Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ICOFOM Study Series 48 2
ICOFOM Study Series 48 2
STUDY
SERIES
Defining
the museum:
challenges and
compromises
of the 21st
century
VOL. 48-2 — 2020
1
ICOFOM
STUDY
SERIES
Defining
the museum:
challenges and
compromises of
the 21st century
VOL. 48,
ISSUE 2 — 2020
1
ICOFOM STUDY SERIES, Vol. 48, Issue 2 —
2020
International Journal of the ICOM International Committee for Museology
(ICOFOM)
The ICOFOM Study Series is a double-blind peer reviewed journal
Editor / Rédacteur
Bruno Brulon Soares
Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Brazil
2
Advisory Committee / Comité d’avis / Consejo
Consultivo
Maria Cristina Bruno, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Bernard Deloche, Professor Emeritus, Université de Lyon 3, France
André Desvallées, Conservateur général honoraire du patrimoine, France
Peter van Mensch, Professor Emeritus, Reinwardt Academie, Netherlands
Martin Schaerer, Past President of ICOM Ethics Committee, Switzerland
Tereza Scheiner, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Anita Shah, Museum consultant, India
Tomislav Šola, Professor Emeritus, University of Zagreb, Croatia
3
Table of contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ICOFOM’s commitment to a new museum definition
Préface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
L’engagement d’ICOFOM pour une nouvelle définition du musée
Prefacio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
El compromiso del ICOFOM con una nueva definición de museo
INTRODUCTION
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Defining the museum: challenges and compromises of the 21st century
Bruno Brulon Soares
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Définir le musée : défis et compromis au XXIe siècle
Bruno Brulon Soares
Introducción . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Definir el museo: retos y compromisos del siglo XXI
Bruno Brulon Soares
ARTICLES
In Defense of Museum Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Milene Chiovatto
Defining Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Ann Davis
4
Définir une juste ambition pour les professionnels et une
identité pour l’ICOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Emilie Girard
5
6
FOREWORD
AVANT-PROPOS
PREFACIO
7
Foreword
ICOFOM’s commitment to a
new museum definition
This new issue of ICOFOM Study Series was first conceived in Kyoto, Japan,
after the ICOFOM plenary that discussed the museum definition prior to the
ICOM Extraordinary Assembly of September 7, 2019. In that moment, we
witnessed possibly the greatest dispute over a museum definition in ICOM
history, and the increase of some frictions that would be both conceptual and
political within this organisation. In an optimistic interpretation of the recent
past, the General Conference in Kyoto represented an important landmark
for the recognition of ICOM’s cultural diversity and for the democratisation
of decision-making processes within this global forum.
Since then, with the postponement of the vote on a new museum definition,
which was decided by a majority of 70% of ICOM representatives, the debate
around a new definition for the 21st century has continued to grow and is far
from reaching an end. In the year following the Kyoto Conference, ICOFOM
has conducted an international survey (the results of which are published in
this issue), it has organised two international meetings with other ICOM
committees (in Europe and in Latin America), and it has established a closer
relationship with National and International committees by sharing expe-
riences and possible methodologies for the work on a new museum definition.
This publication is one among several actions taken by ICOFOM to conti-
nue contributing to the debate by gathering different opinions and updated
studies on this fundamental theme. Our goal, with the selected articles, was
not to generate a consensus, but to promote a “polyphonic” dialogue with the
challenge to find possible ways to compromise. The result, as you will see, is
a friendly duel between academics, researchers, and museum professionals,
writing from their local realities and from the point of view of their own
practices and engagements in the museum field.
Several of the articles presented here refer to the past work done by ICOFOM
in the discussion of a specific terminology for museology – work that dates
back to its creation, in 1977, and continues to this day, proving that specific
terms and concepts should be constantly scrutinised and discussed by those
who operate them in the real life of their daily practices. Our aim, once again
in this publication, is not to find definitive words to define museums in the 21st
century, but, maybe, in the best case, to identify the main challenges involved
8
in the work of writing this fundamental text for the ICOM organisation and
for the professionals who make this global institution.
This volume 48, issue 2 is the second publication of ICOFOM Study Series in
2020, and it was achieved thanks to the work of a committed group of pro-
fessionals, including the members of the Editorial Board, the peer-reviewers,
the secretaries and volunteers who believe in the importance of this journal
for the field of museology. Thanks to them we can continue in the search for
a museology that serves both museum theory and practice, as a constantly
changing discipline, socially defined by its professionals, scholars, and museum
makers around the world.
Bruno Brulon Soares
9
Préface
L’engagement d’ICOFOM pour
une nouvelle définition du
musée
Cette nouvelle édition des ICOFOM Study Series fut initiée à Kyoto (Japon), à
la suite de la Conférence plénière de l’ICOFOM et des discussions sur la défi-
nition du musée, en amont de l’Assemblée générale extraordinaire de l’ICOM,
le 7 septembre 2019. À ce moment, nous assistâmes probablement au plus
grand débat sur la définition du musée dans l’histoire de l’ICOM, ainsi qu’à
l’amplification de certaines frictions au sein de l’organisation qui pouvaient
être autant conceptuelles que politiques. Dans une approche optimiste du
passé récent, l’Assemblée Générale à Kyoto représenta un important point de
départ pour la reconnaissance de la diversité culturelle de l’ICOM et pour la
démocratisation du processus de prise de décision dans ce forum mondial.
Depuis lors, avec le report du vote pour une nouvelle définition du musée, qui
fut décidé à la majorité par 70 % des représentants de l’ICOM, les débats autour
d’une nouvelle définition pour le XXIe siècle évoluèrent et sont toujours loin
d’être terminés. Au cours de l’année passée, après les conférences de Kyoto,
ICOFOM lança une enquête internationale (dont les résultats sont publiés
dans ce volume), organisa deux rencontres internationales avec d’autres comités
de l’ICOM en Europe et en Amérique latine, et établit une communication
rapprochée avec les comités nationaux et internationaux par des échanges
d’expériences et de potentielles méthodologies pour le travail sur la nouvelle
définition du musée. Ce numéro est une action parmi d’autres entreprises par
ICOFOM pour continuer à contribuer aux débats en rassemblant diverses
opinions et de nouvelles études sur ce thème fondamental. Notre objectif, par
les articles sélectionnés, n’était pas de créer un consensus, mais de promouvoir
un dialogue « polyphonique » avec le défi stimulant de trouver de possibles
compromis. Le résultat, comme vous allez le voir, est un affrontement amical
entre académiques, chercheurs et professionnels de musée, écrivant depuis
leurs réalités locales et depuis le point de vue de leurs propres pratiques et
engagement dans le champ muséal.
Plusieurs des articles présentés ici font référence au travail fait par ICOFOM
par le passé dans les discussions autour d’une terminologie spécifique pour
la muséologie – un travail qui débute dès sa création en 1977 et se poursuit
jusqu’à aujourd’hui, prouvant que les termes et concepts constitutifs doivent
10
être constamment soumis à discussion et à réflexion par ceux qui les emploient
dans leurs pratiques quotidiennes. Notre ambition, une fois de plus dans cette
publication, n’est pas de trouver de mots définitifs pour définir les musées au
XXIe siècle mais, peut-être, dans le meilleur des cas, d’identifier les principaux
défis impliqués dans le travail d’écriture de ce texte fondateur pour l’ICOM et
pour les professionnels qui constituent cette institution mondiale.
Ce volume 48, numéro 2, est la seconde publication des ICOFOM Study Series
en 2020 et fut achevée grâce au travail d’un groupe de professionnels impliqués,
incluant les membres du bureau d’édition, les pairs relecteurs, les secrétaires et
les volontaires qui croient en l’importance de ce journal pour le terrain de la
muséologie. Grâce à eux, nous pouvons poursuivre la recherche d’une muséologie
qui serve la théorie du musée et sa pratique en tant que discipline en mouvement,
socialement définie par ses professionnels, spécialistes et artisans du musée.
Bruno Brulon Soares
Traduction de Marion Bertin
11
Prefacio
El compromiso del ICOFOM
con una nueva definición de
museo
Este nuevo número del ICOFOM Study Series se concibió por primera vez en
Kioto, Japón, después de la plenaria del ICOFOM que debatió la definición
de museo, previa a la Asamblea Extraordinaria del ICOM del 7 de septiembre
de 2019. En ese momento, fuimos testigos de la que constituye posiblemente la
mayor disputa en torno a una definición de museo en la historia del ICOM,
y el aumento de algunas fricciones tanto conceptuales como políticas dentro
de esta organización. En una interpretación optimista del pasado reciente, la
Conferencia General de Kioto representó un hito importante para el recono-
cimiento de la diversidad cultural del ICOM y para la democratización de los
procesos de toma de decisiones dentro de este foro mundial.
Desde entonces, con el aplazamiento de la votación sobre una nueva definición
de museo, decidida por una mayoría del 70% de los representantes del ICOM,
los debates en torno a una nueva definición para el siglo XXI han evolucio-
nado y están aún lejos de llegar a su fin. En este último año, después de la
Conferencia de Kioto, el ICOFOM ha lanzado una encuesta internacional
(cuyos resultados se publican en este número), ha organizado dos reuniones
internacionales con otros comités del ICOM (en Europa y en América Latina),
y ha establecido una comunicación más estrecha con los comités nacionales
e internacionales mediante el intercambio de experiencias y de metodologías
posibles para el trabajo de una nueva definición de museo. Esta publicación
es una de las varias acciones desarrolladas por el ICOFOM para continuar
contribuyendo a los debates, por medio de la reunión de diferentes opiniones y
estudios actualizados sobre este tema fundamental. Nuestro objetivo, mediante
los artículos seleccionados, no ha sido generar consenso, sino promover un
diálogo “polifónico” con el desafío provocador de encontrar posibles formas
de compromiso. El resultado, como puedes verse, es un duelo amistoso entre
académicos, investigadores y profesionales de los museos, escribiendo desde
sus realidades locales y desde el punto de vista de sus propias prácticas y com-
promisos en el campo de los museos.
Muchos de los artículos que se presentan aquí hacen referencia directa al trabajo
que ha venido realizando el ICOFOM en la discusión de una terminología
específica para la Museología – un trabajo que se remonta a su creación en 1977,
12
13
14
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCCIÓN
15
Introduction
Introduction
Defining the museum:
challenges and compromises
of the 21st century
16
Introduction
law in several countries and guiding public policies for the museum field, the
ICOM definition has proven to be the most structural and operational tool for
this organisation to express its values and mission around the world. However,
the claim for a possible universality of the terms in a standard definition can
be seen as the central paradox, considering the known diversity of the museum
phenomenon in contemporary societies, which is emphasised in studies that
have set the tone for a plural and dynamic museology in the present.
Considering all the different theoretical and political points of view, we can
raise one more question: how can museology and reflexive thinking on the
museum contribute to this fruitful but still contentious debate? Such a reflec-
tion has been integrated into ICOFOM’s basic concerns with a terminology for
museology since the 1970s, as it dedicates its efforts to theorising the museum
and museology. Once again, we have invited authors to contribute to this topic
in this special issue of ICOFOM Study Series, while a new museum definition
is still being debated and this debate is raising some fundamental questions
about contemporary museology and the future of museum theory everywhere.
”
17
Introduction
The most traditional idea of the museum was expressed in this text, written as
it was by an organisation that essentially comprised museum directors from
European countries who conceived these “establishments” (or institutions) in
their supposed permanence, and whose primary function was to exhibit their
collections of recognised cultural value. It wasn’t long before questions were
raised on the functions and character of this museum definition. In the early
1970s, these values professed by museum directors and specialists were contested
as ICOM opened its forums to new members from colonised countries.
In the context of the 9th ICOM General Conference, in France in 1971, by
recognising that museums are “theoretically and practically attached to a world
(the European world), to a class (the cultivated bourgeoisie)” and “to a certain
cultural perspective” (Adotevi, 1992 [1971], p. 122), the African intellectual
Stanislas Adotevi, from Benin, marked a moment of great reflection on the
role of museums in a so-called post-colonial world. This thinker helped to
transform the basis of a political and theoretical debate at the centre of ICOM
that had a major role in the amendments of the museum definition that were
to come. One year later, within the scope of the renowned Round Table of
Santiago de Chile, and motivated by a process that was self-proclaimed as the
“decolonisation” of the museum (Varine, 2005), some members of ICOM and
UNESCO debated “the role of museums in relation to the social and economic
needs of modern day Latin America” (UNESCO, 1973).
In that same decade, several ICOM committees engaged in the development
of a joint terminological research project that was coordinated by CIDOC
(the Committee for Documentation, created in 1950) with the involvement of
ICOFOM after 1977. This project, whose aim was to establish a terminology
for museology according to ICOM standards, was mainly based on the pro-
fessional reality of countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany
and the USSR (ICOM, 1972, p. 141), and its results could not apply or even
be translated to most other contexts of the world. This was the time when
ICOM would acknowledge the challenges of language and cultural background
involved in the definition of its core vocabulary on a world scale.
Despite the difficulties in the work for this broad terminology project invol-
ving several international committees, ICOM would propose a new museum
definition, which was approved by the representatives of its members in 1974.
In some parts, this definition echoes the previous debates in Santiago de Chile:
”
18
Introduction
In 1974, the notion that the museum is “in the service of society and its deve-
lopment” evoked some reactions from certain conservative members, who
considered this phrase “an inappropriate politicization of the purpose of
museums” (Sandahl, 2019, p. 5). In a way, the neutrality of the definition was
being challenged, while some members insisted on the fact that a neutral
museum was either possible or even desired. Even though it could be considered
progressive, the definition adopted in the 1970s kept the focus on “material
evidence” and on the most traditional functions of the museum. The ICOM
definition neglected any mention of intangible heritage, disregarding the fact
that new experimental forms of the museum were thriving around the globe,
among which were the ecomuseums in France (since the early 1970s), indigenous
museums in Latin America (since the 1950s) and neighbourhood museums in
the United States (since the late 1960s).
Eventually, theoretical studies in museology would reflect on the centrality
of museums’ collections of material artifacts, proposing new conceptions of
the museum that would impose themselves on ICOM’s established notions.
For instance, the British thinker Geoffrey Lewis proposed a definition that
was not founded in the building or the institutional character of the museum,
but in the broader sense of collecting, conceiving of the museum as “a support
of knowledge made of material and immaterial evidence of the cultural and
natural heritage of humanity”.1 In this sense, the museum may be thought of
as a place, real or virtual, that maintains a variety of elements for the benefit
of the public. Such a conception is no longer dependent upon the notion of a
collection of material objects. Further discussions in the ICOFOM forums for
theoretical debates (in its annual symposia and series of publications) would
expose the contemporary trend to perceive museums in more fluid and open
terms, regarded by some as a “phenomenon” (Scheiner, 2000), or as a means
to “satisfy certain social needs” (Stránský, 1987, pp. 288–289), and which are
shaped by human activity.
These theoretical debates influenced by ICOFOM have allowed museologists
around the world to make some critical observations concerning the defini-
tion of the museum. In the context of Latin America, for instance, various
conceptions of the museum were going to be presented questioning the uni-
versalising terms of international debates. Based on the local appropriations
of concepts and practices, several authors approached the museum defini-
tion as a political statement. For the Cuban museologist Marta Arjona Pérez
(1977, p. 35), the museum can be perceived as “an indispensable element of
support for social and cultural development” primarily based on educational
principles. For the Argentinian Norma Rusconi (2001), museums are “centres
1. See Lewis, 2004 quoted by Mairesse, 2011. The interventions in the framework of the debates on
the museum definition between 2003 and 2004, coordinated by Gary Edson, are recounted in Mai-
resse, François. Musée. In: Desvallées, A. & Mairesse, F. (dirs.) (2011). Dictionnaire encyclopédique de
muséologie. Paris: Armand Colin, pp. 308–312.
19
Introduction
of social transformation”; and for the Brazilian Teresa Scheiner (2007, p. 164),
the museum is “a phenomenon related to cultural heritage of humanity, an
institution created in the service of society to represent and attribute value to
this heritage by means of identification, preservation, research and communi-
cation of material and immaterial testimonies, in all possible ways”.
Throughout the years, with ICOM having established relations with insti-
tutions that did not necessarily conform to the accepted museum definition
proposed in 1974 (among those, art galleries, science centres, cultural centres
or even some ecomuseums and cybermuseums), new debates were initiated,
considering again the proposition of amendments to the museum definition at
the beginning of the new century. In June 2003, the members of the Executive
Council, represented by the North American Gary Edson, decided to revise
the definition, taking into account an incompatibility of the criteria set for
the admission of professionals, institutions and services by ICOM (Edson,
2003, p. 11).
Between 2003 and 2004, in response to the ICOM invitation to re-evaluate the
museum definition, several theorists related to different committees would
propose new ideas and perspectives for re-considering the terms and concepts
in the official text. According to Edson, the words used in a definition “are a
means of providing a systematic inventory of the various ideas, […] by imposing
understanding on our perception” (Edson, 2007, p. 43). Furthermore, he argued
that for a definition to be usable it must “briefly, and in the most precise terms,
state what a word means”. Meanwhile, ICOFOM was already working on a
terminology project of its own, coordinated by the French museologist André
Desvallées, under the name of Thesaurus of Museology. This project was launched
in 1993, with the aim of collecting the different perspectives of over 20 key
terms in museology, including “museum”.2 In the early 2000s, the committee
took on the project of theorising the museum definition in order to respond
to ICOM’s demand for a new definition.
Finally, between June 30 and July 2, 2005, members of ICOFOM gathered in
Calgary, Canada, and turned its annual symposium into a forum for a speci-
fic academic discussion on the museum definition, raising some theoretical
questions and proposing a new text for ICOM’s consideration. According
to the ICOFOM members present in Calgary, the first definition for the 21st
century should state that:
2. See Mairesse, F., Desvallées, A. (2007). Introduction. In F. Mairesse & A. Desvallées (Dirs.) (2007).
Vers une redéfinition du musée? Paris: L’Harmattan. pp. 13–20.
20
Introduction
”
The proposed definition emphasises the roles of researching, preserving and
communicating, in reference to the museum model developed and introduced
to museology by the Dutch Peter van Mensch (1992) and heavily influenced
by the ideas of the Czech Zbyněk Z. Stránský. Furthermore, it was the first
time that a normative text to define the museum mentioned the category
of intangible heritage. The Calgary meeting also proposed that the museum
definition be regarded by ICOM as a work in progress, considering the need
for its continuous updates according to developments in the museum field
(Mairesse, 2011, p. 312). Despite the ongoing theoretical debates held by ICO-
FOM members, ICOM would incorporate a new emended definition with
considerable small changes in the text from 1974. The definition, approved in
2007 at the 21st General Conference held in Vienna, Austria, and still current,
states that:
”
Contemporary challenges of a disputed definition
As proven throughout the years since ICOM was created, the museum defini-
tion enshrined in its Statutes has different uses that can be defined as either
internal or external to this global organisation. The thought-provoking question
“why do we need a museum definition, after all?”, posed by several academics
over the years, can be answered when we look at the impact of the museum
definition inside and outside of ICOM. At first sight, we can identify at least
two major effects of the definition: internally, ICOM uses this normative tool
to define institutional partners and to admit its members – in other words,
the museum definition also determines the definition of ICOM itself, in its
body of professionals and institutions. Externally, several countries, in different
regions of the world, create rules and establish policies for the museum field
using as a parameter the international museum definition that is sometimes
even reproduced in national legislation or serves to steer public policy at
different levels.
21
Introduction
3. This study was published by ICOFOM in the book edited for the symposium Définir le musée du
XXIe siècle, held in Paris, France, in 2017. Rivet, M. (2017). La définition du musée: Que nous disent
les droits nationaux ? In F. Mairesse (2017) (Dir.), Définir le musée du XXIe siècle (pp. 53–79). Paris:
ICOFOM.
22
Introduction
museum definition, containing some of the problems but also the specific claims
from those multiple voices concerned with the museum definition worldwide.4
Based on the results from this series of ICOFOM events, recent studies have
shown that a global definition should consider the different notions of what
a museum is across the world and its interpretations in various linguistic and
cultural contexts (Brown & Mairesse, 2018). Discussions considered topics
on the meaning of being an “institution” or the need for material collections,
but most of the presenters in the different countries approached the “social
role of the museum”, and several of them presented a critical reading of the
museum emphasising its colonial role still present in societies (Brulon Soares,
Brown & Nazor, 2018).
Following the discussions involving ICOM members and professionals from
different institutions around the world, the ICOM Executive Board, at its
139th session on July 21–22, 2019, in Paris, chose one proposal from among the
texts recommended by the MDPP for debate and deliberation by the ICOM
representatives of National and International Committees at the Extraordinary
Assembly scheduled for September 7, 2019 in Kyoto, Japan. After considerable
thoughtful debate, the Assembly as a body voted to postpone the decision on
the proposed definition in order to have sufficient time to more fully consider
the implications of the proposed text and to hear the opinions of the members
in a transparent and participatory process. Considered as an attempt to break
with the past and tradition within the ICOM organisation, the proposed text
selected by the Executive Board states:
Museums are not for profit. They are participatory and transparent,
and work in active partnership with and for diverse communities to
collect, preserve, research, interpret, exhibit, and enhance understan-
dings of the world, aiming to contribute to human dignity and social
justice, global equality and planetary wellbeing” (ICOM, 2019).
”
Reflecting on the results of two years of extensive debates and the discussions
held at the Kyoto Conference, the ICOM community faces the challenge of
4. The publications and resolutions from the ICOFOM symposia are available for public consulta-
tion on our website https://icofom.icom.museum.
23
Introduction
24
Introduction
25
Introduction
In her article, Lynn Maranda questions whether museums are currently being
pushed to become “money machines” in a global market that has been shaken
by an economic crisis which has exposed social inequalities in different parts
of the colonised world. The author addresses the role of a universal definition
and its limitations to consider the specific needs of communities in different
regions and countries. By analysing the relationship between museums and
indigenous populations in Canada and the United States, she shows how local
legislation and the power of institutional rules are fundamental to agreement
on repatriation and the preservation of indigenous heritage. Maranda calls
attention to the relevance of considering local realities when defining specific
laws and standards for the cultural field, and she asks how inclusive a museum
can be in practice when a single universal definition is applied to different
countries and cultural contexts in the postcolonial world. In her analysis, the
central challenge should be to promote a more “bottom up” rather than a “top
down” conception of the museum and of its place in any society.
According to François Mairesse and Olivia Guiragossian, if ICOM wishes to pre-
sent one single definition of value to all its national committees and members,
first, it must consider the different ways in which the museum is perceived
around the globe. In their detailed analysis of the 269 definitions in response
to the ICOM survey in 2019, the authors note, among other observations, the
prevalence of terms such as “community” and the adjective “social” that did
not appear in the ICOM museum definition proposed last year. In fact, the
social dimension of the museum – that is shown to be overrepresented in Latin
American definitions – has been overlooked in the MDPP interpretation of
the survey. This social character of the museum was stressed in the ICOFOM
symposia organised in 2017, and it was emphasised as an important aspect of
a museum definition particularly by those participants in the events held in
Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, whose papers were published (Brulon Soares,
Brown & Nazor, 2018), and resolutions were presented to the MDPP.
In his critical approach to past definitions adopted by ICOM, Markus Walz
shows that more than simply describing a specific phenomenon, these texts,
in their unlimited application all over the world, are set to produce the very
phenomena they wish to describe. The author also considers the limitations
of the ICOM museum definition in its universal pretence, by suggesting that
even in the current definition (2007) some statements such as “at the ser-
vice of society and its development” are value-laden assertions that project
to all museums a path to be followed. The author notes some terminological
problems when the definition refers to “the tangible and intangible heritage
of humanity” while stating the functions of a traditional museum based on
material collections. As Walz recalls, the terms “preserving” or “conserving”
usually refer to material goods, while “safeguarding” is commonly used to refer
to non-material cultural phenomena.
In order to carefully interpret the current debates, Elizabeth Weiser goes back
to the Kyoto extraordinary assembly, where 70% of ICOM representatives
26
Introduction
voted to postpone a bold and controversial definition of the museum for the
21st century. The author considers that this vote – one of the most argued in
the history of this organisation – represented neither a rejection to progress
nor a shutting out of voices from the global South. It was maybe the result of
a greater diversity of points of view, which is characteristic of a multicultural
organisation still struggling to find a common ground between its members
– one that may encompass a spectrum of different opinions and perspectives
on the museum.
By considering five different versions of the museum definition presented
over time, Weiser focuses on where the points of contention and agreement
lie among the ICOM membership. As she recalls, in the past few years, the
majority of ICOM members have agreed with the need to update the current
definition, based on changes in the museum field since the last century. From
this consensus, a commitment was made at the ICOM General Assembly of
2016, in Milan, that a designated group of professionals would take on this
task within the broad organisation – the MDPP formed in 2017. From that
point on, what was made clear was the great diversity of opinions and poli-
tical points of view of members and representatives that currently compose
this multicultural group of professionals. What could have been perceived as
the strength of ICOM as a global organisation, led to internal conflicts that
caused the resignation of several members of the MDPP early in 2020. Now,
we can only move forward by recognising that ICOM should be about all
our differences, our localised voices and various forms of situated knowledge
(Haraway, 1988), and not about a claim of universality that should unite us
despite it all. Coming from their different perspectives, the authors in this
issue call attention to the complexity of the debate that, in several media, is
being depicted as a polarisation between conservative and progressive voices
– as if an international debate with political and economic implications could
be that simplistic.
Several of the authors in this issue are not afraid of showing that they are
not neutral towards the museum definition and its implications in the life of
people and the institutions where they act. In her explicit defence of museum
education, Milene Chiovatto denounces the internal hierarchies that sustain
museums exclusion and the prominence of the expert or curator to the detri-
ment of the visitor experience. She suggests that to promote cultural demo-
cracy museums should start changing from the inside out, letting go of the
crystallised values and colonial views from the past. Finally, she suggests that
a universal vocabulary to translate new values should be discussed in the diffe-
rent settings. As the debates involving terminological issues on “education”
and “cultural mediation” show, different meanings can be attributed to the
same terms in the diverse cultural and linguistic contexts in which they are
applied. Sharing this same concern with vocabulary, Ann Davis argues that a
definition should be based on commonly understood terms within a particular
group of people and should also consider the different meanings of words in
27
Introduction
different cultural contexts. At the same time, she states that the terms used
in the definition text should be representative of the group of professionals
who operate it in practice.
Thomas Thiemeyer, in his article, asserts his passionate defence of the defi-
nition proposed by the MDPP on the eve of the Kyoto General Conference,
considering it a turning point for the museum field, and the first time that a
completely new text to replace the one adopted in the last century was put to
a vote by ICOM. Furthermore, he argues that no apolitical definition of the
museum, considering it as an institution that stores and preserves collections,
is sustainable in times in which no institution – and certainly no publicly
funded institution – can withdraw from its “social responsibility”. He recalls,
thus, that the political agenda of the new proposed definition is not only
primed with liberalism, but also with postcolonialism – an agenda that has
generated great friction within ICOM. According to Thiemeyer, the pivotal
question at the centre of ICOM discussions seems to be: is it about a vision
for the future or rather the pursuit of minimum standards for cultural policy
matters involving museums? To this question, we could even add another one:
can we conceive a definition in its operational sense and still make a statement
about the future of museums?
Some of the authors in this issue base their analysis on specific case studies,
looking at museum experiences and practices to reframe the very notion of
the museum. Alix Ferrer-Yulfo argues for a more open-minded approach to
envisioning museums in the 21st century, by presenting the case of Museo del
Baile Flamenco as an example of a museum based on Intangible Cultural
Heritage that should consider a new approach to the process of musealisation.
With a similar purpose, Sara Pastore presents some interdisciplinary paths
to the interpretation of museal landscapes, basing her analysis on the case
study of the city of Naples. In her attempt to outline a possible framework
for the interpretation of the landscape in art museums, the author stresses
the intermediary nature of the museum, beyond the mere public institution
or business organisation. This approach allows for a post-critical museology,
sustained by sociological theory and method, that reconsiders the museum in
the light of the political, economic, and social changes of the present time.
In the context of Canada, Michèle Rivet raises some important points for an
international definition considering the history and specific circumstances
of two renowned institutions: the Musée de beaux arts, in Montréal, and the
Musée de la civilisation in Québec. The author also proposes a non-universal
approach to what a museum is, and she argues that local legislation and the
governance of museums in different cultural contexts should be considered in
any museum definition adopted by international organisations such as ICOM.
For José Jiménez the environmental aspect is considered central for museums
and peoples of Latin America, notably in the Andean region, where memory
is recreated as a result of social and environmental resilience despite geogra-
28
Introduction
phical isolation. As the author shows, the debate on the Anthropocene, in its
multiple environmental and social effects, is a political debate that should be
considered when museums ask themselves some basic questions such as “Who
is exhibiting and for whom?”. The historical categories and social pacts that
define who has the right to use natural resources and who hasn’t constitute a
major political bias for museums around the world. However, the exploitation
of the environment has a greater impact in certain regions of the world and
on certain populations. Based on this debate, Jiménez proposes to define the
museum as a space for re-evaluating certain conventions, where history can
be read from different perspectives and voices, generating multiple reflections
and understandings of the world.
Alejandra Saladino explores some specific aspects of the museum field in
Brazil, and emphasises the political and social character of institutions in the
country. The author reflects on how the ICOM museum definition can help
local communities by generating rules and standards for museum practice and
public policies. Even though Brazilian law includes a museum definition that
is similar to the ICOM text from 1974, the author regards the 2019 definition
as an important means for the country to continue working under a forward-
thinking National Policy of Museums. According to her, the new museum
definition should serve as a progressive tool for different governments to
define public policies that promote the preservation of life and help them to
work for a better future for the different social groups.
Approaching the context of Mexico, Scarlet Rocío Galindo Monteagudo calls
attention to the need for specific national laws that state what a museum is and
that promote cultural policies to regulate them. In her article, she confronts
the importance of a museum definition at a national level, especially in socie-
ties marked by structural inequalities and where the exclusion of indigenous
populations is a practice of the State. In this sense, Rocío Monteagudo argues
that a museum definition may help to set the parameters for community
museums and indigenous processes that are based on experimental practices
and that struggle to be recognised by the State as continuous and sustainable
institutions.
Beyond its resonance in national and local realities, the ICOM museum
definition has a global mission. It is a tool for defining the parameters for
museum professionals and experts around the world, but also for creating a
common ground for international dialogue and compromise. As Emilie Girard
states in her article, the ICOM definition has an important role in defining
ICOM’s identity in this new century. While centred on the functions of col-
lecting, conserving, researching, and communicating, “museum” refers to a
well-known institution and to a very specific professional category. These
traditional functions of the museum, with an emphasis on material collections
and their conservation, seem to be valued by a majority of ICOM members, as
the author demonstrates. By analysing the proposed changes to the museum
definition presented in Kyoto, Girard considers the impact of some omissions
29
Introduction
on the future of professionals and institutions that constitute the ICOM inter-
national community.
But what might happen if we introduce new functions and values to this
global “institution”? Are museum professionals – as we identify ourselves at
the moment – endangered? Are we losing a well-defined status quo with the
new definition of the museum? Or is it just a matter of learning how to share
authority with subaltern groups and indigenous populations who should also
have the right and the means to make their museums, according to an open,
inclusive and prospective museum definition? In other words, are we too scared
to let go of our power, as museum experts and creators?
In many ways, the articles in this issue represent some of the different voices
and opinions on the museum definition for the 21st century that have been
heard at the recent ICOM debates. At the same time, they provide some
possibilities for consensus among members and museum professionals on the
basic terms to be included in a new definition. According to these different
analyses, some notions are more valued than others. To some of the authors
the notion of “research” or “study” is very much a core value for the museum
professionals who are part of the ICOM membership and voting representatives
today. “Education” is also a central element for a museum definition, as well
as stating the “social role” or character of the museum. “Democratisation” and
the involvement of “communities” are central points of debate for some who
stress the relevance of decolonising the museum. Many of the authors in this
issue are critical of the universal pretence of the ICOM definition, and they
denounce the political and social function of this operational tool.
A museum is a power device, made of constant disputes and contestation,
permanently evolving to meet the needs of different societies and to translate
the cultural claims of specific groups. And that is why it is so hard to define it.
A museum definition, as this issue demonstrates, is in itself subject to dispute.
To define the museum is, thus, a political task, and one that will determine
ICOM’s political place and its relevance to contemporary societies and those
of the near future. In this sense, a compromise is not only an international
necessity in a time of polarising ideas and political extremisms, it is also the
only way to move forward.
References
Adotevi, S. (1992 [1971]). Le musée inversion de la vie. (Le musée dans les
systèmes éducatifs et culturels contemporains). In A. Desvallées, M. O.
De Barry & F. Wasserman (Coords.), Vagues: une antologie de la Nouvelle
Muséologie (Vol. 1., pp. 119–123). Collection Museologia, Savigny-le-Temple:
Éditions W-M.N.E.S.
30
Introduction
Arjona Pérez, M. (2019 [1977]). Los museos en la solución de los problemas sociales
y culturales. In O. Nazor, & S. Escudero (Eds.), Teoría museológica lati-
noamericana. Textos fundamentales (Vol. 2., pp. 33–35). Marta Arjona Pérez.
Paris: Comité Internacional de Museología, ICOFOM; Subcomité de
Museología para Latinoamérica y el Caribe, ICOFOM LAM; Consejo
Internacional de museos, ICOM.
Brown, K., & Mairesse, F. (2018). The definition of the museum through its
social role. Curator: The Museum Journal, 61, 4, 525–539.
Brulon Soares, B., Brown, K., & Nazor, O. (Eds.). (2018). Defining museums of
the 21st century: plural experiences. Paris: ICOFOM.
Davis, A., Mairesse, F., & Desvallées, A. (Eds.). (2010). What is a Museum? Munich,
Germany: Verlag Dr. C. Müller-Straten.
de Varine, H. (2005). Decolonising Museology. ICOM News, 3, 3.
Desvallées, A., & Mairesse, F. (Dirs.) (2011). Dictionnaire encyclopédique de muséo-
logie. Paris: Armand Colin, 2011.
Edson, G. (2003). Ensemble définissons le musée. ICOM News / Les Nouvelles
de l’ICOM, 3, 11.
Edson, G. (2007). Qu’est-ce qu’un musée? In F. Mairesse, & A. Desvallées (Dir.),
Vers une redéfinition du musée ? (pp. 37–48). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: the science question in feminism
and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599.
ICOM (1972, September) – Conseil international des musées / International
Council of Museums. Suite des rapports des Comités internationaux
de l’ICOM pour 1972. ICOM News / Nouvelles de l’ICOM, 25(3).
ICOM (2019). The museum definition. The backbone of museums. Museum
International, vol. 71, n. 281–282.
ICOM Statutes (1974), adopted by the 11th General Assembly (Copenhagen,
Denmark, June 14, 1974). Retrieved from http://archives.icom.museum/
hist_def_eng.html.
ICOM Statutes (2007), adopted by the 22nd General Assembly (Vienna, Aus-
tria, August 24, 2007). Retrieved from http://archives.icom.museum/
hist_def_eng.html.
ICOM website (2019). ICOM announces the alternative museum definition
that will be subject to a vote. Retrieved from https://icom.museum/en/
news/icom-announces-the-alternative-museum-definition-that-will-be-
subject-to-a-vote/.
31
Introduction
32
Introduction
Introduction
Définir le musée : défis et
compromis au XXIe siècle
33
Introduction
34
Introduction
”
L’idée la plus traditionnelle du musée est exprimée dans ce texte, écrit par une
organisation qui comprend alors essentiellement des directeurs de musées de
pays européens qui conçoivent ces « établissements » (ou institutions) par leur
supposée permanence et dont la première fonction était d’exposer leurs collec-
tions reconnues de valeur culturelle. Il ne faut que peu de temps avant que des
questions émergent à propos des fonctions et du caractère de cette définition
du musée. Au début des années 1970, ces valeurs professées par des directeurs
de musées et des spécialistes sont contestées alors que l’ICOM accueillent dans
ses rencontres de nouveaux membres originaires de pays colonisés.
Au cours de la 9e conférence générale de l’ICOM en France en 1971, en recon-
naissant que les musées sont « théoriquement et pratiquement attachés à un
monde (le monde européen), à une classe (la bourgeoisie cultivée) » et « à une
certaine perspective culturelle » (Adotevi, 1992 [1971], p. 122), l’intellectuel
africain Stanislas Adotevi, originaire du Bénin, marque un moment d’intenses
réflexions sur le rôle des musées dans le monde prétendument post-colonial.
Cet intellectuel aide à transformer les fondements du débat politique et théo-
rique au centre de l’ICOM, ce qui a un rôle majeur pour les amendements
de la définition du musée dans les années suivantes. Un an plus tard, dans le
cadre de la célèbre Table-ronde de Santiago du Chili, et motivés par un pro-
cessus auto-proclamé de « décolonisation » du musée (Varine, 2005), quelques
membres de l’ICOM et de l’UNESCO débattent sur le « rôle des musées en
relation avec les besoin sociaux et économiques de l’Amérique latine moderne »
(UNESCO, 1973).
Cette même décennie, plusieurs comités de l’ICOM s’engagent dans le déve-
loppement d’un projet de recherches commun autour de la terminologie, coor-
donné par le CIDOC (le comité pour la documentation, créé en 1950) avec
l’implication d’ICOFOM depuis 1977. Ce projet, dont le but est d’établir une
terminologie pour la muséologie en accord avec les critères de l’ICOM, est
principalement basé à partir de la réalité professionnelle de pays comme la
Pologne, la Tchécoslovaquie, l’Allemagne de l’Est et l’URSS (ICOM, 1972, p.
141) et ses résultats ne peuvent être appliqués, ni même traduits, pour la plupart
des autres contextes mondiaux. C’est à ce moment que l’ICOM reconnaît les
défis liés aux langues et aux contextes culturels impliqués par la définition
d’un vocabulaire principal à l’échelle mondiale.
Malgré les difficultés de travail rencontrées par ce projet impliquant plusieurs
comités internationaux autour de la définition d’une terminologie générale,
l’ICOM propose une nouvelle définition qui est approuvée par les représentants
de ses membres en 1974. Cette définition fait en partie écho aux précédents
débats à Santiago du Chili :
35
Introduction
”
En 1974, la mention d’un musée « au service de la société et de son dévelop-
pement » occasionne quelques réactions de la part de certains membres les
plus conservateurs, qui considèrent cette expression comme « une politisation
inappropriée du but du musée » (Sandahl, 2019, p. 5). En un sens, la neutra-
lité de la définition est mise en question, comme si un musée neutre était
possible ou désiré. Bien qu’elle puisse être considérée comme progressiste, la
définition adoptée dans les années 1970 conserve une attention aux « témoins
matériels » et aux fonctions les plus traditionnelles du musée. La définition
de l’ICOM néglige toute mention du patrimoine immatériel, sans considérer
les nouvelles formes expérimentales de musées en développement autour du
monde, parmi lesquelles les écomusées en France (depuis le début des années
1970), les musées autochtones en Amérique latine (depuis les années 1950) et
les musées de quartier aux États-Unis (depuis la fin des années 1960).
En définitive, les études théoriques en muséologie reflètent la place centrale
des collections d’artefacts matériels dans les musées, proposant de nouvelles
conceptions du musée qui s’imposent elles-mêmes aux notions établies par
l’ICOM. Par exemple, le penseur anglais Geoffrey Lewis propose une définition
non fondée sur le bâtiment ou le caractère institutionnel du musée, mais autour
de la collection dans une large perspective, concevant le musée comme « un
support de connaissances constitué de témoins matériels et immatériels du
patrimoine culturel et naturel de l’humanité1 ». En ce sens, le musée peut être
pensé comme un espace, réel ou virtuel, qui conserve une variété d’éléments
au service du public. Une telle conception n’est plus dépendante de la notion
de collection d’objets matériels. De plus amples discussions au sein du forum
d’ICOFOM sur les questions théoriques (lors de ses symposiums annuels et de
ses séries de publications) exposent la tendance contemporaine de percevoir
les musées par des termes plus fluides et plus ouverts, conçus pour certains
comme un « phénomène » (Scheiner, 2000), comme un moyen de « satisfaire
certains besoins sociaux » (Stránský, 1987, pp. 288-289), et comme forme de
l’activité humaine.
1. Lewis, 2004 cité par Mairesse, 2011. Les interventions sur la structure des débats sur la définition
du musée, menés entre 2003 et 2004, coordonné par Gary Edson, sont intégrés à : Mairesse, François.
Musée. In A. Desvallées, & F. Mairesse (dir.) (2011). Dictionnaire encyclopédique de muséologie. Paris :
Armand Colin, pp. 308-312.
36
Introduction
37
Introduction
”
La définition proposée souligne le rôle de la recherche, de la conservation et de
la communication, en référence au modèle de musée développé et introduit par
le muséologue néerlandais Peter van Mensch (1992) et fortement influencée par
les idées du tchèque Zbyněk Z. Stránský. De plus, c’est la première fois qu’un
texte normatif définissant le musée mentionne le patrimoine immatériel. La
rencontre de Calgary propose également que la définition du musée soit perçue
par l’ICOM comme un travail continuellement en cours, considérant le besoin
de son actualisation régulière en lien avec les transformations du champ muséal
(Mairesse, 2011, p. 312). En dépit de la poursuite des débats théoriques menés
par les membres d’ICOFOM, l’ICOM intègre une nouvelle définition amen-
dée par de très légers changements au texte de 1974. La définition, approuvée
en 2007 lors de la 21e conférence générale organisée à Vienne (Autriche), et
toujours l’actuelle, statue que :
“Le musée est une institution permanente sans but lucratif, au ser-
vice de la société et de son développement, ouverte au public, qui
acquiert, conserve, étudie, expose et transmet le patrimoine maté-
riel et immatériel de l’humanité et de son environnement à des fins
d’études, d’éducation et de délectation.” (ICOM, 2007).
”
Défis contemporains d’une définition disputée
Établie au fil des années depuis la création de l’ICOM, la définition inscrite dans
ses Statuts produit différents effets qui peuvent être tant internes qu’externes
à cette organisation globale. La question provocatrice « pourquoi avons-nous
besoin d’une définition du musée, après tout ? », posée par plusieurs univer-
38
Introduction
sitaires ces dernières années, peut trouver une réponse en regardant ce que la
définition du musée produit à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur de l’ICOM. À première
vue, on peut identifier au minimum deux effets majeurs induits par la défini-
tion : de manière interne, l’ICOM utilise cet outil normatif pour définir ses
partenaires institutionnels et admettre ses membres – en d’autres termes, la
définition du musée détermine aussi la définition de l’ICOM lui-même, avec
son corps de professionnels et d’institutions ; à l’extérieur, plusieurs pays dans
différentes régions du monde créent des règles et établissent des politiques pour
le domaine muséal en utilisant la définition internationale des musées comme
paramètre, qui est parfois même reproduite dans les législations nationales ou
servant à orienter les politiques publiques à différents niveaux.
Selon une étude développée par la muséologue canadienne Michèle Rivet3,
l’analyse des lois nationales permet de reconnaître l’influence de l’ICOM dans
de nombreux pays et de voir ce que chaque pays retient de la définition.
Cette étude montre que la définition du musée de l’ICOM est présente dans
sa quasi-intégralité dans les législations nationales de pays tels que le Brésil
et l’Italie, mais qu’elle est aussi partiellement utilisée dans les lois de pays
comme l’Afrique du Sud, la Belgique, la Chine, le Danemark, l’Espagne, la
France, la Pologne, le Portugal ou la Suède. Dans plusieurs pays, la définition
de l’ICOM est utilisée comme base pour les politiques publiques, les codes de
déontologie ou est partiellement adoptée par des institutions nationales et
des associations, ce qui est le cas en Argentine, Australie, Belgique, Canada,
États-Unis, Nouvelle-Zélande, Pays Bas et Royaume-Uni.
Aujourd’hui, la définition actuelle est considérée par beaucoup comme obsolète
ou excessivement liée à une idée hégémonique du musée. Évidemment, elle
conserve, dans sa structure même et ses valeurs fondamentales, les traces d’une
tradition qui est organiquement enracinée dans la raison d’être originelle de
l’ICOM ainsi que dans les légalisations nationales de plusieurs pays, qui sont
demeurées face aux processus successifs de révisions à la lumière de nouveaux
paradigmes apparus dans le champ muséal. Pour Jette Sandahl, anciennement
présidente du MDPP, comité permanent de l’ICOM devant repenser la défini-
tion du musée en prenant en considération les transformations ayant marqué
le début du XXIe siècle, le prix à payer pour ne pas réviser la définition doit
être considéré, « pas seulement dans le sens où les musées sont perçus comme
étant entravés par leur fidélité aux siècles précédents » (Sandahl, 2019, p. 3).
Sommes-nous déjà en train de payer le prix d’une institution « permanente »
qui est attachée, avec acharnement, à une représentation solennelle du passé ?
En d’autres mots, les musées évoluent-ils d’une manière qui risquerait de rendre
l’ICOM daté ? Dans ce cas, comment peut-on traiter toutes les transforma-
tions des musées depuis le début du siècle en une seule définition, fixée pour
3. Cette étude est publiée dans l’ouvrage Définir le musée du XXIe siècle, organisé à Paris, France, en
2017. Rivet, M. (2017). La définition du musée: Que nous disent les droits nationaux ? In Mairesse, F.
(2017) (dir.). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle. Paris : ICOFOM. pp. 53-79.
39
Introduction
unifier des expériences plurielles et opérer en tant que critère mondial pour
les pratiques muséales ? Comment peut-on évoluer sans oublier nos racines et
les principes de base du musée ?
Relevant l’imposant défi de définir le musée en des termes simples, pour un
monde muséal pluraliste et multiculturel, l’ICOM et le MDPP mettent en
œuvre une série mondiale de discussions, soutenues par des débats universi-
taires et professionnels promus par ICOFOM. Au cours des trois dernières
années, le comité pour la muséologie de l’ICOM présente les résultats de onze
symposiums organisés dans onze pays différents, impliquant une variété de
participants, allant des professionnels de musées et universitaires aux membres
de communautés engagés dans le développement de musées de formes diverses
et non-hégémoniques. Les conférences de l’ICOFOM fournissent pas moins de
trois nouvelles publications sur le sujet de la définition du musée, contenant
quelques-unes des problématiques et des demandes spécifiques provenant de
ces multiples voix au sujet de la définition du musée autour du monde4.
Basées sur les résultats de cette série de symposiums menés par ICOFOM, de
récentes études montrent que la définition globale du musée devrait consi-
dérer les différentes notions de ce qu’est un musée à travers le monde et ses
interprétations dans divers contextes linguistiques et culturels (Brown & Mai-
resse, 2018). Des discussions envisagent leurs sujets sur la signification d’être
une « institution » ou le besoin de collections matérielles, mais la plupart des
présentations des différents pays approchent le « rôle social du musée » et
plusieurs d’entre elles exposent une lecture critique du musée en soulignant
son rôle colonial toujours présent dans des sociétés (Brulon Soares, Brown &
Nazor, 2018).
Poursuivant les discussions impliquant les membres de l’ICOM et les profes-
sionnels venant de diverses institutions à travers le monde, le comité exécutif
de l’ICOM, durant sa 139e session à Paris les 21 et 22 juillet 2019, choisit une
proposition parmi les textes recommandés par le MDPP pour le débat et la
délibération par les représentants des comités nationaux et internationaux de
l’ICOM lors de l’Assemblée générale extraordinaire planifiée pour le 7 sep-
tembre 2019 à Kyoto (Japon). Après un débat nourri et réfléchi, l’Assemblée
vote unanimement pour reporter la décision concernant la proposition de
définition, dans le but d’avoir suffisamment de temps pour considérer plus
amplement les implications du texte proposé et pour écouter les opinions des
membres, dans un processus transparent et participatif. Considéré comme une
tentative de rompre avec le passé et les traditions de l’ICOM, le texte proposé
sélectionné par le comité exécutif déclare :
4. L’ensemble de ces publication et résolutions sont disponibles en ligne sur notre site internet :
http://icofom.mini.icom.museum/fr/
40
Introduction
Les musées n’ont pas de but lucratif. Ils sont participatifs et trans-
parents, et travaillent en collaboration active avec et pour diverses
communautés afin de collecter, préserver, étudier, interpréter, expo-
ser, et améliorer les compréhensions du monde, dans le but de contri-
buer à la dignité humaine et à la justice sociale, à l’égalité mondiale
et au bien-être planétaire.” (ICOM, 2019).
”
Reflétant les résultats de deux ans de débats extensifs et les discussions menées
durant la conférence de Kyoto, la communauté de l’ICOM fait face aux défis
pour trouver un consensus sur un sujet considéré comme controversé et dans
le même temps critique pour la survie de l’institution elle-même dans le siècle
actuel. Pour aller plus loin, les membres de l’ICOM et leurs représentants
doivent embrasser leurs différences, en essayant de trouver des voies de com-
promis. Avec cet objectif en tête, ICOFOM mène, entre octobre et décembre
2019, une enquête sur la nouvelle définition proposée auprès de ses membres et
auprès des autres comités nationaux et internationaux dont les résultats sont
présentés à la fin de ce numéro. La présente publication vise à donner une suite
aux débats à un niveau professionnel et académique au sein de la communauté
muséale, avec le but de mettre la muséologie au service des musées.
41
Introduction
stricte, parce qu’il n’y a pas qu’un seul musée concerné par la définition et que
les modèles passés sont assez critiqués au point d’être presque abandonnés par
la plupart des institutions dans leurs pratiques. Contre toute standardisation,
mais en cherchant toujours un consensus théorique et normatif, ICOFOM est
dédié à la cause de l’ICOM pour atteindre une définition raisonnable pour le
siècle actuel. En ce sens, la théorie du musée et la muséologie peuvent nous
aider à trouver un chemin pour le compromis, en créant un dialogue d’après
les disputes et, peut-être, à trouver la voie pour déclarer en quelques termes
ce qui nous maintient en tant que groupe de professionnels et penseurs dans
un champ de connaissances et de pratiques non-homogène. Quel musée dési-
rons-nous pour les futures générations de professionnels et les musées à venir ?
Quel musée souhaitons-nous définir et poursuivre ?
Sans vouloir proposer un nouveau texte pour la définition du musée, l’édition
spéciale des ICOFOM Study Series, vol. 48, second numéro, adresse les différentes
demandes pour une nouvelle définition reconnaissant les discours et les disso-
nances dans le débat contemporain. Ainsi, nous invitions des professionnels et
universitaires à envoyer leurs propositions pour cette édition en accord avec
les sous-thèmes suivants :
Défis opérationnels et structurels pour la définition du musée : approches
des implications pratiques, administratives et légales par l’usage d’une nouvelle
définition du musée dans différents contextes du monde. Comment la définition
du musée de l’ICOM façonne-t-elle les pratiques et les politiques locales en
générant des standards et des règles pour définir le travail des musées ? Quelles
institutions sont incluses, d’un point de vue légal, politique et financier, dans la
catégorie « musée » ? Lesquelles sont-elles exclues et luttent-elles pour obtenir
une reconnaissance publique et des financements ?
Bases théoriques de la définition du musée, dans le passé et le présent :
réflexions sur la théorie du musée qui soutient la définition du musée et les
termes et concepts spécifiques qui sont utilisés. Quels nouveaux concepts ou
structures théoriques devraient être considérés pour une définition du XXIe
siècle ? Quels termes et concepts de la présente définition peuvent être recons-
idérés ou sont obsolètes ?
Définir les professions du musées et ses principales aptitudes : analyse de
l’impact de la définition du musée sur les professionnels, ses compétences et
ses rôles dans les différents contextes culturels et sociaux. La définition aide-
t-elle la professionnalisation du champ muséal ? Dans quelle mesure est-elle
connectée à l’acquisition de compétences et à la formation du personnel des
musées ?
Usages sociaux de la définition du musée dans les expériences communau-
taires : il est considéré qu’une définition unique du musée peut exclure quelques
expériences et pratiques basées sur l’action communautaire et l’expérimenta-
tion sociale. Comment la définition du musée peut-elle aider les communau-
tés à obtenir une reconnaissance sociale et à repousser les défis financiers et
42
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43
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44
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45
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nière au cœur des discussions de l’ICOM, selon Thiemeyer, semble être : est-ce
une vision pour le futur ou plutôt la poursuite d’un minimum de standards
pour les questions de politiques culturelles impliquant les musées ? À cette
question, nous pouvons même en ajouter une autre : pouvons-nous concevoir
une définition dans un sens opérationnel et toujours concevoir une déclaration
pour le futur des musées ?
Quelques-uns des auteurs de ce volume basent leurs analyses sur des cas d’études
spécifiques, en jetant un regard sur les expériences et pratiques muséales pour
recadrer la notion même du musée. Alix Ferrer-Yulfo appelle à une approche
plus ouverte pour appréhender les musées au XXIe siècle, en présentant le cas
du Museo del Baile Flamenco en tant qu’exemple de musée fondé sur le patri-
moine culturel immatériel qui doit considérer une nouvelle approche pour le
processus de muséalisation. Avec une proposition similaire, Sara Pastore pré-
sente quelques parcours interdisciplinaires pour l’interprétation des paysages
muséaux, en fondant son analyse sur le cas d’étude de la ville de Naples. Dans
son ambition de tracer un potentiel cadre pour l’interprétation du paysage dans
les musées d’art, l’auteure souligne la nature médiale des musées, au-delà d’une
simple institution publique ou d’une organisation financière. Cette approche
ouvre la porte pour une muséologie post-critique, soutenue par la théorie et
la méthode sociologique, qui permet de reconsidérer le musée à la lumière des
changements politiques, économiques et sociaux du temps présent.
Dans le contexte du Canada, Michèle Rivet tente de relever quelques points
importants pour une définition internationale, en considérant l’histoire et les
spécificités de deux institutions renommées, le Musée des beaux arts, à Montréal,
et le Musée de la civilisation à Québec. L’auteure propose aussi une approche
non-universelle sur ce qu’est un musée et argumente que les législations et les
gouvernances locales des musées dans les différents contextes culturels devrait
être considérées pour la définition du musée adoptée par une organisation
international telle que l’ICOM.
Pour José Jiménez, l’aspect environnemental est central pour les musées et
les populations d’Amérique latine, et de manière notable dans la région des
Andes, où la mémoire est recréée en tant que résultat d’une résilience sociale et
environnementale malgré l’isolation géographique. Comme le montre l’auteur,
le débat sur l’Anthropocène, dans ses multiples effets environnementaux et
sociaux, est un débat politique qui devrait être considéré quand le musée se
pose lui-même quelques questions essentielles comme « qui est exposé et pour
qui ? ». Les catégories historiques et les accords sociaux qui définissent qui a
le droit d’utiliser les ressources naturelles et qui n’en a pas le droit constituent
un biais politique majeur pour les musées à travers le monde. Cependant, les
effets contemporains de l’exploitation de l’environnement sont plus sensibles
dans certaines régions du monde et pour certaines populations. D’après ce
débat, Jiménez propose de définir le musée comme un espace pour réévaluer
certains contentieux, où l’histoire peut être lue depuis différentes perspectives
et voix, en générant de multiples réflexions et compréhensions du monde.
46
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47
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Références
Adotevi, S. (1992 [1971]). Le musée inversion de la vie. (Le musée dans les sys-
tèmes éducatifs et culturels contemporains). Dans A. Desvallées, M. O.
De Barry & F. Wasserman (Coords.), Vagues: une antologie de la Nouvelle
Muséologie (Vol. 1., pp. 119–123). Collection Museologia, Savigny-le-Temple:
Éditions W-M.N.E.S.
Arjona Pérez, M. (2019 [1977]). Los museos en la solución de los problemas sociales
y culturales. Dans O. Nazor, & S. Escudero (Eds.), Teoría museológica
latinoamericana. Textos fundamentales (Vol. 2., pp. 33–35). Marta Arjona
Pérez. Paris: Comité Internacional de Museología, ICOFOM; Subco-
mité de Museología para Latinoamérica y el Caribe, ICOFOM LAM;
Consejo Internacional de museos, ICOM.
Brown, K., & Mairesse, F. (2018). The definition of the museum through its
social role. Curator: The Museum Journal, 61, 4, 525–539.
48
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Brulon Soares, B., Brown, K., & Nazor, O. (Eds.). (2018). Defining museums of
the 21st century: plural experiences. Paris: ICOFOM.
Davis, A., Mairesse, F., & Desvallées, A. (Eds.). (2010). What is a Museum? Munich,
Germany: Verlag Dr. C. Müller-Straten.
de Varine, H. (2005). Decolonising Museology. ICOM News, 3, 3.
Desvallées, A., & Mairesse, F. (Dirs.) (2011). Dictionnaire encyclopédique de muséo-
logie. Paris: Armand Colin, 2011.
Edson, G. (2003). Ensemble définissons le musée. ICOM News / Les Nouvelles
de l’ICOM, 3, 11.
Edson, G. (2007). Qu’est-ce qu’un musée? Dans F. Mairesse, & A. Desvallées
(Dir.), Vers une redéfinition du musée ? (pp. 37–48). Paris: L’Harmattan.
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: the science question in feminism
and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599.
ICOM (1972, September) – Conseil international des musées / International
Council of Museums. Suite des rapports des Comités internationaux
de l’ICOM pour 1972. ICOM News / Nouvelles de l’ICOM, 25(3).
ICOM (2019). The museum definition. The backbone of museums. Museum
International, vol. 71, n. 281–282.
ICOM Statutes (1974), adopted by the 11th General Assembly (Copenhagen,
Denmark, June 14, 1974). Page consultée le 17 novembre 2020, http://
archives.icom.museum/hist_def_eng.html.
ICOM Statutes (2007), adopted by the 22nd General Assembly (Vienna, Austria,
August 24, 2007). Page consultée le 17 novembre 2020, http://archives.
icom.museum/hist_def_eng.html.
ICOM website (2019). ICOM announces the alternative museum definition
that will be subject to a vote. Page consultée le 17 novembre 2020, https://
icom.museum/en/news/icom-announces-the-alternative-museum-defi-
nition-that-will-be-subject-to-a-vote/.
ICOM. Development of the museum definition according to ICOM Statutes (2007–1946).
Accessed March 1, 2020. Page consultée le 17 novembre 2020, http://
archives.icom.museum/hist_def_eng.html.
Mairesse, F. (Dir.). (2017). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle. Paris: ICOFOM.
Mairesse, F., & Desvallées, A. (Dir.). (2007). Vers une redéfinition du musée? Paris:
L’Harmattan.
Mensch, P. van (1992). Towards a Methodology of Museology. University of Zagreb,
Faculty of Philosophy, doctoral thesis.
49
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Riviére, G. H. (1960). Stage regional d’études de l’Unesco sur le role éducatif des
musées (Rio de Janeiro, septembre 7–30, 1958). Paris: Unesco, 12.
Rusconi, N. (2001). Museology, Nationalism and Globalization. ICOFOM Study
Series, 33, 12–18.
Sandahl, J. (2019). The museum definition as the backbone of ICOM. Museum
International, 71, 281–282, 1–9.
Scheiner, T. (2000). Muséologie et philosophie du changement. ICOFOM Study
Series, 8, 22–24.
Scheiner, T. (2007). Musée et muséologie – définitions en cours. Dans F. Mai-
resse & A. Desvallées (Dirs.), Vers une redéfinition du musée ? (pp. 147–165).
Paris: L’Harmattan.
Stránský, Z. Z. (1987). Museology and Museums. ICOFOM Study Series, 12,
287–292.
UNESCO (1973). The role of museums in today’s Latin America. Museum Inter-
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Museums and Collections, Their Diversity and Their Role in Society. Page
consultée le 17 novembre 2020, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/
pf0000246331.
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Introducción
Definir el museo: retos y compromisos del siglo
XXI
51
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”
52
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La idea más tradicional del museo se expresó en este texto, escrito por una
organización que esencialmente estaba compuesta por directores de museos de
países europeos que concibieron estos “establecimientos” (o instituciones) y su
supuesta permanencia, y cuya función principal era exhibir sus colecciones de
reconocido valor cultural. No llevaría mucho tiempo plantear algunas preguntas
sobre las funciones y el carácter de esta definición de museo. A principios de
la década de 1970, estos valores profesados por los directores y especialistas
de museos fueron puestos en disputa cuando la organización del ICOM abrió
sus foros a nuevos miembros de países colonizados.
En el contexto de la 9ª Conferencia General del ICOM que tuvo lugar en Francia
en 1971, al reconocer que los museos están “teórica y prácticamente unidos a
un mundo (el mundo europeo), a una clase (la burguesía cultivada)” y “a una
cierta perspectiva cultural”, el intelectual africano Stanislas Adotevi (1992 [1971],
p.122), de Benin, marcó un momento de gran reflexión sobre el papel de los
museos en el llamado mundo poscolonial. Este pensador ayudó a transformar
las bases de un debate político y teórico en el centro del ICOM que tuvo un
papel importante en las enmiendas de la definición de museo que estaban por
venir. Un año después, dentro del alcance de la reconocida Mesa Redonda de
Santiago de Chile, y motivado por un proceso que se autoproclamó como la
“descolonización” del museo (Varine, 2005), algunos miembros del ICOM y
la UNESCO debatieron “el papel de los museos en relación a las necesidades
sociales y económicas de la América Latina moderna” (UNESCO, 1973).
En esa misma década varios comités del ICOM participaron en el desarrollo
de un proyecto conjunto de investigación terminológica, coordinado por el
CIDOC (el comité de documentación, creado en 1950) con la participación
del ICOFOM después de 1977. Este proyecto, cuyo objetivo era establecer una
terminología para la museología de acuerdo con los estándares del ICOM, se
basó principalmente en la realidad profesional de países como Polonia, Che-
coslovaquia, Alemania Oriental y la URSS (ICOM, 1972, p. 141), y sus resultados
no pudieron aplicarse o incluso traducirse a otros contextos del mundo. Ese
fue el momento en que el ICOM reconocería los desafíos del lenguaje y los
antecedentes culturales involucrados en la definición de su vocabulario central
a escala mundial.
A pesar de las dificultades en el trabajo para este amplio proyecto de termi-
nología que involucró varios comités internacionales, el ICOM propondría
una nueva definición de museo, que fue aprobada por sus representantes en
1974. De alguna forma, esta definición hace eco de los debates ocurridos en
Santiago de Chile:
53
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”
En 1974, la noción de que el museo está “al servicio de la sociedad y su desar-
rollo” provocó algunas reacciones de ciertos miembros conservadores, quienes
consideraron esta frase “una politización inapropiada del propósito de los
museos” (Sandahl, 2019, p. 5). En cierto modo, la neutralidad de la definición
fue puesta en cuestión, como si un museo neutral fuera posible o deseado.
Aunque podría considerarse progresista, la definición adoptada en la década
de 1970 mantuvo el foco en la “evidencia material” y en las funciones más tra-
dicionales del museo. La definición del ICOM descuidó cualquier mención del
patrimonio inmaterial, sin tener en cuenta el hecho de que las nuevas formas
experimentales del museo estaban prosperando en todo el mundo, entre las
que se podían destacar los ecomuseos en Francia (desde principios de la década
de 1970), los museos indígenas en América Latina (desde la década de 1950)
y museos de barrio en los Estados Unidos (desde finales de los años sesenta).
Posteriormente, los estudios teóricos en museología reflexionarían sobre la cen-
tralidad de las colecciones de artefactos materiales en los museos, proponiendo
nuevas concepciones del museo que se impondrían a las nociones establecidas
por el ICOM. Por ejemplo, el pensador británico Geoffrey Lewis propuso una
definición que no estaba fundada en el edificio o el carácter institucional del
museo, sino en el sentido de coleccionar bajo una perspectiva amplia, conci-
biéndolo como “un soporte del conocimiento hecho de las evidencias mate-
riales e inmateriales del patrimonio cultural y natural de la humanidad”1. En
este sentido, el museo podría considerarse como un lugar, real o virtual, que
mantiene una variedad de elementos en beneficio del público. Tal concepción
ya no depende de la noción de una colección de objetos materiales. Otras
discusiones en los foros del ICOFOM para debates teóricos (en sus simposios
anuales y series de publicaciones) expondrían la tendencia contemporánea
de percibir a los museos en términos más fluidos y abiertos, concebidos por
algunos como un “fenómeno” (Scheiner, 2000), o como un medio para “satis-
facer ciertas necesidades sociales” (Stránský, 1987, p. 288-289), moldeado por
la actividad humana.
Estos debates teóricos influenciados por el ICOFOM han permitido que
museólogos de todo el mundo planteen algunas reflexiones críticas sobre la
definición de museo. En el contexto de América Latina, por ejemplo, se fueron
presentando diversas concepciones de museo que cuestionaban los términos
universalizadores de los debates internacionales. Basándose en las apropiaciones
1. Ver Lewis, 2004 citado por Mairesse, 2011. Los marcos de los debates sobre la definición de museo
entre 2003 y 2004, coordinados por Gary Edson, se recuperan en Mairesse, François. Musée. In A.
Desvallées, & F. Mairesse (dirs.) (2011). Dictionnaire encyclopédique de muséologie. Paris : Armand Colin,
pp. 308-312.
54
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55
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”
La definición propuesta enfatiza los roles de investigación, preservación y
comunicación, en referencia al modelo de museo desarrollado e introducido
a la museología por el museólogo holandés Peter van Mensch (1992) y fuerte-
mente influenciado por las ideas del checo Zbyněk Z. Stránský. Más aún, era
la primera vez que un texto normativo para definir el museo mencionaba la
categoría de patrimonio inmaterial. La reunión de Calgary también propuso
que el ICOM percibiera la definición del museo como un trabajo en progreso,
considerando la necesidad de actualizaciones continuas de acuerdo con las
transformaciones en el campo de los museos (Mairesse, 2011, p. 312). A pesar
de los debates teóricos en curso celebrados por los miembros del ICOFOM,
el ICOM incorporaría una nueva definición modificada con considerables
pequeños cambios del texto de 1974. La definición, aprobada en 2007, en la 21ª
Conferencia General celebrada en Viena, Austria, y aún vigente, afirma que:
”
Desafíos contemporáneos de una definición en disputa
Como se demostró a lo largo de los años desde que se creó el ICOM, la defi-
nición de museo establecida en sus Estatutos produce diferentes efectos que
podrían definirse como internos o externos a esta organización global. La
pregunta provocativa “¿por qué necesitamos una definición de museo, después
de todo?” planteada por varios académicos a lo largo de los años, se puede res-
ponder cuando observamos las implicancias de la definición de museo dentro
y fuera del ICOM. A primera vista, podemos identificar al menos dos efectos
importantes de la definición: internamente, el ICOM utiliza esta herramienta
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3. Este estudio fue publicado por ICOFOM en el libro editado para el simposio Définir le musée
du XXIe siècle, organizado en Paris, Francia, en 2017. Rivet, M. (2017). La définition du musée: Que
nous disent les droits nationaux ? In Mairesse, F. (2017) (dir.). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle.Paris :
ICOFOM. pp. 53-79.
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Para abordar este gran desafío de definir el museo en términos simples para el
mundo museístico pluralista y multicultural, el ICOM y el MDPP han imple-
mentado una serie de discusiones globales que han sido respaldadas por debates
académicos y profesionales fomentados por el ICOFOM. En los últimos tres
años, el comité de museología del ICOM ha presentado los resultados de 11
simposios organizados en 11 diferentes países, en los que participaron desde
profesionales de museos y académicos hasta miembros de la comunidad invo-
lucrados en el desarrollo de museos en diversas formas no hegemónicas. Las
conferencias del ICOFOM han dado como resultado al menos tres nuevas
publicaciones sobre el tema, que contienen algunas de las problemáticas, pero
también las afirmaciones específicas de esas múltiples voces relacionadas con
la definición del museo en todo el mundo4.
Basado en los resultados de esta serie de simposios del ICOFOM, estudios
recientes han demostrado que una definición global debería considerar las
diferentes nociones de lo que es un museo en todo el mundo y sus inter-
pretaciones en varios contextos lingüísticos y culturales (Brown & Mairesse,
2018). Las discusiones consideraron temas relativos al significado de ser una
“institución” o la necesidad de colecciones materiales, pero la mayoría de los
autores en los diferentes países abordaron el “papel social del museo”, y varios
de los textos presentaron una lectura crítica del museo enfatizando su papel
colonial aún presente en las sociedades (Brulon Soares, Brown, & Nazor, 2018).
Tras discusiones en las que participaron miembros y profesionales del ICOM
de diferentes instituciones de todo el mundo, la Junta Ejecutiva del ICOM,
en su 139ª sesión del 21 al 22 de julio de 2019, en París, eligió una propuesta
de entre los textos recomendados por el MDPP para debate y deliberación de
los representantes del ICOM de Comités Nacionales e Internacionales en la
Asamblea Extraordinaria programada para el 7 de septiembre de 2019 en Kioto,
Japón. Después de un considerable debate reflexivo, la Asamblea como órgano
votó posponer la decisión sobre la definición propuesta a fin de tener tiempo
suficiente para considerar más a fondo las implicaciones del texto propuesto y
escuchar las opiniones de los miembros en un proceso transparente y partici-
pativo. Considerado como un intento de ruptura con el pasado y la tradición
dentro de la organización del ICOM, el texto propuesto seleccionado por la
Junta Ejecutiva establece:
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”
Al reflexionar sobre los resultados de dos años de extensos debates y sobre las
discusiones mantenidas en la Conferencia de Kioto, la comunidad del ICOM
enfrenta el desafío de tener que encontrar un consenso sobre un tema que ha
sido considerado controversial y, al mismo tiempo crítico para la supervivencia
de esta misma institución en el presente siglo. Para avanzar, los miembros y
representantes del ICOM deben aceptar las diferencias, tratando de encontrar
formas de compromiso. Con este objetivo, de octubre a diciembre de 2019,
el ICOFOM ha enviado a sus miembros y a otros comités internacionales y
nacionales una Encuesta sobre la nueva definición propuesta, cuyos resultados se
presentan al final de este número. La presente publicación pretende dar conti-
nuidad a los debates a nivel académico y profesional dentro de la comunidad
museológica, con el propósito de poner la museología al servicio de los museos.
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Introduction
para el presente siglo. En este sentido, la teoría del museo y la museología puede
ayudarnos a encontrar un camino hacia el compromiso, creando un diálogo a
partir de las disputas y tal vez encontrando la forma de expresar en algunos
términos lo que nos sostiene como grupo de profesionales y pensadores en un
campo no homogéneo de conocimientos y prácticas. ¿Qué museo deseamos para
las futuras generaciones de profesionales y visitantes? ¿Qué museo deseamos
definir y tener como meta?
Sin la intención de proponer un nuevo texto para la definición del museo, el
número especial de ICOFOM Study Series, número 48, volumen 2 aborda los
diferentes reclamos para una nueva definición que reconozca los discursos y
las disonancias en el debate contemporáneo. Por lo tanto, hemos invitado a
profesionales y académicos a enviar sus propuestas de acuerdo con los siguientes
subtemas:
Desafíos operativos y estructurales para una definición de museo: enfoques
sobre las implicaciones prácticas, administrativas y legales en el uso de una nueva
definición de museo en diferentes contextos del mundo. ¿Cómo la definición
de museo del ICOM da forma a las prácticas y las políticas locales al generar
estándares y reglas para su actuar? ¿Qué instituciones están incluidas, desde
una perspectiva legal, política y financiera, en la categoría de “museo”? ¿Cuáles
están excluidas y luchan por obtener reconocimiento público y financiero?
Base teórica de la definición del museo, en el pasado y en el presente:
reflexiones sobre la teoría de museo que sustenta la definición y los términos
y conceptos específicos que se utilizan en ella. ¿Qué nuevos conceptos o mar-
cos teóricos deberían considerarse para su definición en el siglo XXI? ¿Qué
términos y conceptos en la definición actual pueden reconsiderarse y cuáles
son obsoletos?
Definir la profesión museal y sus principales capacidades: análisis de los
impactos de la definición de museo en la profesión, sus habilidades y su rol
en los diferentes contextos culturales y sociales. ¿La definición ayuda a la
profesionalización del campo museal? ¿En qué medida está relacionada con el
desarrollo de capacidades y la capacitación del personal del museo?
Usos sociales de la definición de museo en experiencias basadas en la comuni-
dad: se considera que una definición universal de museo puede excluir algunas
experiencias y prácticas basadas en la acción comunitaria y la experimentación
social. ¿Cómo puede la definición de museo ayudar a las comunidades a obtener
reconocimiento social y suplantar los desafíos financieros y de representación
del presente? ¿Cómo debería el ICOM considerar otras formas de definición,
basadas en el conocimiento local, para ser más inclusivo con otras manifesta-
ciones del museo?
La definición de museo entre expectativa y prescripción: Cualquier defini-
ción es un texto normativo y podría usarse como un instrumento para excluir
fenómenos que no se ajustan al grupo definido. Sin embargo, a menudo las
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definiciones se utilizan como un marco colectivo que debe ser apoyado, pero
que no necesariamente es llevado a cabo por cada elemento del grupo definido.
El análisis museológico podría remontarse a las últimas décadas investigando
el uso de definiciones de museo de manera normativa o performativa: ¿Cómo
las organizaciones y los profesionales de museo han usado esos elementos
definitorios en el pasado reciente?
Para algunos historiadores contemporáneos, el siglo XXI ha comenzado verda-
deramente cuando la pandemia de COVID-19 afectó la vida de las personas y
cambió la dinámica social a escala global y local. La actual ola de transforma-
ciones provocada por la crisis sanitaria, económica y política en 2020 también
ha evidenciado algunos cambios estructurales en el funcionamiento de los
museos. Algunos de los autores de este número consideran el impacto de la
reciente crisis en la concepción de una nueva definición en un momento en el
que los museos están más necesitados de principios básicos o núcleo de valores
para seguir sirviendo a sociedades y democracias en peligro.
En su artículo, Lynn Maranda se pregunta si los museos están siendo empu-
jados a convertirse en “máquinas de hacer dinero” en un mercado global que
ha sido sacudido por una crisis económica que ha acentuado las desigualdades
sociales en diferentes partes del mundo colonizado. La autora subraya el rol
de una definición universal y sus limitaciones para considerar las necesidades
específicas de las comunidades en diferentes regiones y países. Al analizar la
relación entre museos y poblaciones indígenas en Canadá y Estados Unidos,
muestra cómo la legislación local y el poder de las reglas institucionales son
fundamentales para un acuerdo sobre la repatriación y la preservación del
patrimonio indígena. Maranda llama la atención sobre la importancia de tener
en cuenta las realidades locales al definir leyes y estándares específicos para
el campo cultural, y pregunta qué tan inclusivo puede ser un museo en la
práctica cuando se aplica una única definición universal a diferentes países y
contextos culturales del mundo poscolonial. En su análisis, el desafío central
sería promover una concepción más “de abajo hacia arriba” en lugar de “de
arriba hacia abajo” del museo y de su lugar en las sociedades.
Según François Mairesse y Olivia Guiragossian, si el ICOM desea presentar
una única definición valiosa para todos sus miembros y comités nacionales,
primero debe considerar las diferentes formas en que se percibe el museo en
todo el mundo. En su análisis detallado de las 269 definiciones en respuesta a
la encuesta del ICOM en 2019, los autores notan, entre otras observaciones, la
aparición expresiva de términos como “comunidad” y el adjetivo “social” que
no aparecían en la definición de museo del ICOM propuesta el año pasado. De
hecho, la dimensión social del museo – sobre representada en las definiciones
latinoamericanas – ha sido pasada por alto en la interpretación del MDPP
de la encuesta. Es el carácter social del museo el que ha sido destacado en los
simposios del ICOFOM organizados en 2017, y fue enfatizado como un aspecto
importante de una definición de museo, particularmente por los participantes
de los eventos realizados en Río de Janeiro y Buenos Aires, cuyos trabajos
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Introduction
fueron publicados (Brulon Soares, Brown, & Nazor, 2018) y sus resoluciones
fueron presentadas al MDPP.
En su enfoque crítico de las definiciones pasadas adoptadas por el ICOM,
Markus Walz muestra que más que describir un fenómeno específico, estos
textos, en su aplicación ilimitada en todo el mundo, están destinados a producir
los mismos fenómenos que desean describir. El autor también considera las
limitaciones de la pretensión universal en la definición de museo del ICOM al
señalar que incluso en la definición actual (2007) algunas declaraciones como
“al servicio de la sociedad y su desarrollo” son afirmaciones cargadas de valores
que proyectan a todos museos un camino a seguir. El autor también nota algu-
nos problemas terminológicos cuando la definición se refiere al “patrimonio
material e inmaterial de la humanidad” al señalar las funciones de un museo
tradicional basado en colecciones materiales. Como remarca Walz, los tér-
minos “preservar” o “conservar” generalmente se refieren a bienes materiales,
mientras que “salvaguardar” se usa comúnmente para referirse a fenómenos
culturales no materiales.
Para interpretar cuidadosamente los debates actuales, Elizabeth Weiser se
remonta a la asamblea extraordinaria de Kioto, donde el 70 por ciento de los
representantes del ICOM votaron a favor del aplazamiento de una definición
del museo para el siglo XXI audaz y controvertida. La autora considera que
esta votación, una de las más discutidas en la historia de la organización, no
representó ni un rechazo al progreso ni un cierre a las voces del Sur global.
Quizás fue el resultado de una gran diversidad de puntos de vista, que es
característica particular de una organización multicultural que todavía lucha
por encontrar un terreno común entre sus miembros, uno que pueda abarcar
un espectro de diferentes opiniones y perspectivas sobre el museo.
Al considerar cinco versiones diferentes de la definición de museo presentadas
a lo largo del tiempo, Weiser se enfocará en los puntos de acuerdo y discordia
entre los miembros del ICOM. Como recuerda, en los últimos años, la mayoría
de los miembros del ICOM ha estado de acuerdo con la necesidad de actualizar
la definición corriente, basándose en los subsecuentes cambios en el campo de
los museos que han tenido lugar desde el siglo pasado. A partir de este consenso,
se afirmó en la Asamblea General del ICOM de 2016, en Milán, el compromiso
de que un grupo de profesionales especialmente designado asumiría esta tarea
dentro de la organización en general, el MDPP formado en 2017. A partir de
ese momento, lo que quedó claro fue la gran diversidad de opiniones y puntos
de vista políticos de los miembros y representantes que actualmente componen
este grupo multicultural de profesionales. Lo que podría haberse percibido como
la fortaleza del ICOM como organización global, generó conflictos internos
que provocaron la renuncia de varios miembros del MDPP a principios de este
año. Ahora, sólo podemos avanzar reconociendo que el ICOM debería tratar
todas nuestras diferencias, nuestras voces localizadas y las variadas formas de
conocimiento situado (Haraway, 1988) descartando una pretensión universal
que debiera unirnos a pesar de todo. Partiendo de sus diferentes perspectivas,
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Introduction
los autores de este número llaman nuestra atención sobre la complejidad del
debate que, en varios medios, se describe como construido sobre una polariza-
ción entre voces conservadoras y progresistas, como si un debate internacional
con implicaciones políticas y económicas pudiera enfocarse de una manera
tan simplista.
Varios de los autores de este número no temen mostrar que no son neutrales
frente a la definición de museo y sus implicaciones en la vida de las personas y
las instituciones donde actúan. En su defensa explícita de la educación museal,
Milene Chiovatto denuncia las jerarquías internas que sustentan la exclusión
de los museos y el predominio del experto o del curador en detrimento de la
experiencia del visitante. Considerará que para promover la democracia cultural
los museos deben empezar a cambiar de adentro hacia afuera, dejando atrás
los valores cristalizados y las visiones colonizadoras del pasado. Finalmente,
recordará que un vocabulario universal para traducir nuevos valores debe dis-
cutirse en las diferentes realidades. Como muestran los debates sobre temas
terminológicos sobre “educación” y “mediación cultural”, se pueden atribuir
diferentes significados a los mismos términos en los diversos contextos cultu-
rales y lingüísticos donde se aplican.
Compartiendo esta misma preocupación por el vocabulario, Ann Davis consi-
dera que una definición debe basarse en términos comúnmente entendidos
dentro de un grupo particular de personas, y también considerando los dife-
rentes significados de las palabras en diferentes contextos culturales. Al mismo
tiempo, afirma que los términos presentes en el texto de definición deben ser
representativos del grupo de profesionales que lo operan en la práctica.
Thomas Thiemeyer, en su artículo, hace una apasionada defensa de la defini-
ción propuesta por el MDPP en vísperas de la Conferencia General de Kyoto,
considerándola como un punto de inflexión para el campo museal, y afirma
que es la primera vez que un texto completamente nuevo que puede remediar
la adoptada en el siglo pasado, fue sometido a votación por el ICOM. Además,
sostiene que ninguna definición apolítica de museo, considerado como una
institución que espora y conserva colecciones, es sostenible en tiempos en que
ninguna institución – y ciertamente ninguna institución financiada con fondos
públicos – puede sustraerse de su “responsabilidad social”. Recuerda, entonces,
que la agenda política sobre la nueva definición propuesta no solo está alentada
con el liberalismo, sino también con el poscolonialismo, una agenda que ha
generado una gran fricción dentro de la organización del ICOM. La pregunta
fundamental en el centro de las discusiones del ICOM, según Thiemeyer,
parece ser: ¿se trata de una visión para el futuro o más bien la búsqueda de
estándares mínimos para las cuestiones de política cultural que involucran a los
museos? A esta pregunta, podríamos incluso agregar otra: ¿podemos concebir
una definición en su sentido operativo y aún así hacer una declaración para
el futuro de los museos?
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Introduction
64
Introduction
considera la definición de 2019 como una meta importante para que el país
continúe trabajando en una progresista Política Nacional de Museos. Según
ella, la nueva definición de museo debe servir como una herramienta progre-
siva para que los diferentes países definan políticas públicas que promuevan la
vida y ayuden a los Estados a trabajar por un mejor futuro de las sociedades.
Acercándose al contexto de México, Scarlet Rocío Galindo Monteagudo subraya
la necesidad de leyes nacionales específicas que establezcan qué es un museo y
que promuevan políticas culturales para regularlas. En su artículo, confronta
la importancia de una definición de museo a nivel nacional especialmente en
sociedades marcadas por desigualdades estructurales y donde la exclusión de
las poblaciones indígenas es una práctica del Estado. En este sentido, Galindo
Monteagudo sostiene que una definición de museo puede ayudar a establecer
parámetros a los museos comunitarios y a procesos indígenas que basados en
prácticas experimentales y que luchan por ser reconocidos por el Estado como
instituciones continuas y sostenibles.
Más allá de su resonancia en las realidades nacionales y locales, la definición
de museo del ICOM tiene una misión global. Es una herramienta para definir
los parámetros para profesionales y expertos de los museos de todo el mundo,
pero también una herramienta para crear un terreno común para el diálogo y
el compromiso internacionales. Como Emilie Girard recorda en su artículo, la
definición del ICOM tiene un papel importante en la definición de la identidad
del ICOM en este nuevo siglo. Si bien se centra en las funciones de coleccionar,
conservar, investigar y comunicar, los museos se destacan por ser una institu-
ción reconocida y refieren a una categoría profesional muy específica. Estas
funciones tradicionales de los museos, con énfasis en las colecciones materiales
y su conservación, parecen ser valoradas por la mayoría de los miembros del
ICOM, como demuestra la autora. Al analizar los cambios propuestos en la
definición de museo presentada en Kioto, Girard considera el posible impacto
en lo que constituye la comunidad internacional del ICOM si en el futuro
algunos profesionales e instituciones pudieran decidir “borrarse”.
¿Pero qué puede pasar si introducimos nuevas funciones y valores a esta
“institución” global? ¿Están los profesionales de museo, como nos identificamos
en este momento, en peligro? ¿Estamos perdiendo un bien definido status quo
con la nueva definición de museo? ¿O se trata solo de aprender a compartir
la autoridad con grupos subalternos y poblaciones indígenas que también
deberían tener el derecho y los medios para hacer sus museos, acordes con una
definición de museo abierta, inclusiva y prospectiva? ¿En otras palabras, estamos
tan temerosos de dejar ir nuestro poder como expertos y creadores de museos?
En muchos sentidos, los artículos de este número representan algunas de las
diferentes voces y opiniones sobre la definición de museo para el siglo XXI que
pueblan los debates recientes del ICOM. Al mismo tiempo, brindan algunas
posibilidades de consenso entre los miembros y los profesionales de los museos
sobre los términos básicos para un texto de nueva definición. Según estos
65
Introduction
diferentes análisis, algunas nociones son más valoradas que otras. Para algunos
de los autores, las nociones de “investigación” o “estudio” son valores funda-
mentales para los profesionales de los museos que son parte de los miembros
del ICOM y los representantes votantes en la actualidad. La “educación” es
también un elemento central para una definición de museo, además de indicar
el “papel social” o carácter del museo. La “democratización” y el compromiso
de las “comunidades” son puntos centrales de debate para algunos que desta-
can la importancia de descolonizar los museos. Muchos de los autores de este
número son críticos con la pretensión universal de la definición del ICOM, y
denuncian la función política y social de esta herramienta operativa.
Un museo es un dispositivo de poder, hecho de constantes disputas y conflictos,
permanentemente evolucionando para atender las necesidades de diferentes
sociedades y traducir las reivindicaciones culturales de grupos específicos. Y es
por eso que es tan difícil definirlo. Una definición de museo, como demuestra
esta publicación, es en sí misma un objeto de controversia. Definir el museo
es, pues, una tarea política. Una que determinará el lugar político del ICOM
y su relevancia para las sociedades actuales y las del futuro más cercano. En
este sentido, un compromiso es no solo una necesidad internacional para una
época de ideas polarizadas y extremismos políticos, es también la única forma
de seguir adelante.
Referencias
Adotevi, S. (1992 [1971]). Le musée inversion de la vie. (Le musée dans les sys-
tèmes éducatifs et culturels contemporains). En A. Desvallées, M. O.
De Barry & F. Wasserman (Coords.), Vagues: une antologie de la Nouvelle
Muséologie (Vol. 1., pp. 119–123). Collection Museologia, Savigny-le-Temple:
Éditions W-M.N.E.S.
Arjona Pérez, M. (2019 [1977]). Los museos en la solución de los problemas
sociales y culturales. En O. Nazor, & S. Escudero (Eds.), Teoría museológica
latinoamericana. Textos fundamentales (Vol. 2., pp. 33–35). Marta Arjona
Pérez. Paris: Comité Internacional de Museología, ICOFOM; Subco-
mité de Museología para Latinoamérica y el Caribe, ICOFOM LAM;
Consejo Internacional de museos, ICOM.
Brown, K., & Mairesse, F. (2018). The definition of the museum through its
social role. Curator: The Museum Journal, 61, 4, 525–539.
Brulon Soares, B., Brown, K., & Nazor, O. (Eds.). (2018). Defining museums of
the 21st century: plural experiences. Paris: ICOFOM.
Davis, A., Mairesse, F., & Desvallées, A. (Eds.). (2010). What is a Museum? Munich,
Germany: Verlag Dr. C. Müller-Straten.
de Varine, H. (2005). Decolonising Museology. ICOM News, 3, 3.
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67
Introduction
68
Articles
ARTICLES
ARTICLES
ARTÍCULOS
69
Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
In Defense
of Museum
Education
Milene Chiovatto
Pinacoteca de São Paulo - São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract
Resumen
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
sit together in the cafeteria, blue-coated workers (educators, guards and people
who work with the audience) should sit somewhere else. It is not possible for
them to mingle.
Touched by his old friendship with Joey, Ross tries to break this symbolic
distance, asserting that they are all human beings and capable of being friends.
Although the episode ends without a conclusion for this situation, those of
us who work in museums know that this hierarchy really does exist, and that
attempts to break the stereotypes are doomed to failure.
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
“Article 1. The ministry charged with cultural affairs has as its mis-
sion: make accessible the chief works of humanity, and first of all of
France, to the greatest possible number of French citizens, to ensure a
wider audience for our cultural heritage, and to favour the creation
of art and of the spirit that enriches it” (Genevieve & Poirrier, 2012).
”
This was when the expression “cultural policy” gained an effective format,
defining culture as an obligation of the State. The actions carried out based on
this policy sought the “popularization of culture,” but were based on the belief
that to achieve this, they should bring high culture to the people, facilitating
access to the officially recognized heritage which, according to the belief at
that time, would automatically allow for the development of greater criti-
cal and aesthetic awareness among the public--a very elitist way of thinking
(Genevieve & Poirrier, 2012).
This political proposal was thus based on the presupposition that there is just
one culture, the officially recognized one, and one people, disregarding their
particularities and specificities. It moreover assumed that this culture would
be naturally attractive and understandable to everyone, all of this evidently
couched in a strong ideology of nationhood, co-substantiated on the natio-
nalization of cultural policy. What was lacking was the means by which the
public could have access to the cultural institutions.
But this plan led to a false democratization (Botelho, 2001), according to the
studies of cultural habits that followed, whose conclusions indicated that
efforts to reduce the physical barriers between refined culture and the popular
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
”
It will be necessary to carry out something that museum education – at least
that which is based on constructivism and the dialogic approach – has been
doing for years: to recognize the objects in museum collections as pretexts
(pre-texts), as things that kindle the dialogue with the public. Instead of repre-
senting a single, rigid narrative, historical structure or aesthetics authorized
by the experts, this approach valorizes the interpretations arising from the
repertoires of the different publics, thus making the museum objects come
to life and take on another sort of value (beyond their social, economic or
historical aspects).
More than conserving memory, the museum should be responsible for telling
the story of the past through eyes that are of and in present, meaning that when
we present an object, we are always talking more about ourselves, contemporary
human beings, than about the object per se.
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
opposition between promises of economic growth and the need for social
equity, affecting even legally constituted rights. Added to this is the massive
destruction of the planet and its resources for the sake of a consumerism that
perennializes economic inequalities and, more recently, the unbridled expansion
of a lethal virus that has demanded that we take emergency social measures.
The times remind us of the many efforts made during the 1960s and 1970s,
with struggles for equality and for the recovery of democracies in the face of,
for example, political authoritarianisms that dominated a large part of the
countries of Latin America.
It was not by chance that in the 1970s the Roundtable of Santiago, Chile, pro-
duced its document as museums were involved in the efforts for the construc-
tion of more equitable societies and stimulated to be concerned, beyond their
objects, about their role in the social landscape and in the societies in which
they are installed.
From this Roundtable grew a notion called the Integral Museum (Roundtable
Santiago do Chile ICOM, 1972), able to deal with economic inequalities, social
development, the ecological and urban scene, and educational responsibility
through culture. The very notion of “public” was problematized, becoming
understood as the participants of the communities where the museums operate.
Still today, the themes set forth by ICOM for International Museum Day reco-
ver fundamental points from that Roundtable document, spurring museums
to a more incisive social activity.
However, since 1972, while ecomuseums have emerged in different parts of
the world, connecting community and culture, a very small number of tradi-
tional museums have changed their structure to engage more with society. In
addition, if they have, they made this change mainly through their education
areas (Varine-Bohan, 2008).
This way, the more traditional museums, instead of reconstructing themselves
internally to focus on society not only as the receiver of their action but also
as a partner in their construction, delegated this contact to their education
areas, while making little or no change to their internal mindsets, constitutions
and modes of operation.
Although most researchers and curators have not taken the path proposed by
the 1972 document, it is nonetheless praiseworthy that they currently partici-
pate in the struggle against historical evils such as colonialism, patriarchalism,
misogyny, racism and every sort of discrimination. They are thus advancing,
slowly, toward the dissolution of the belief in single, universal truths. However,
although these postures are urgent and very welcome, in most cases they are
taken from a revision of their collections, focusing once again on the objects
rather than on the ways of rethinking the institution itself. This changes the
point of view for thinking about the objects, but it does not change the enun-
ciator.
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Some institutions have advanced a little more and have begun to incorporate
objects and curators representative of previously invisible social and ethnic
groups that were stereotyped or scarcely represented in the institutional col-
lections -- an extremely necessary advance.
The term used internationally to denote this revision of the collections is “deco-
lonization,” in the sense of overcoming the thoughts and processes inherited
from colonialism (Restrepo & Rojas, 2010).
Nevertheless, few representatives of society, without a specific specialization
or training in the area of museum activity, can effectively manage to sit at
the same table with museum specialists to be heard and understood, and to
convey their discourses, ways of thinking, creations and propositions into
new configurations of the collections, or into new uses of the physical space
of the museums.
The decolonial revision of collections and heritage objects is fundamental for
bringing new and welcome airs and meanings to museums. From the point
of view of the workers at different levels in the museums, however, colonial
thought still prevails and is felt in a static organizational hierarchy. In a large
portion of the museums, we still find at the top of their organizational structure
the professionals linked to objects, who are seen as thinkers, and, at a lower
level, the professionals who deal with the public, who are seen as the executors
of the plans from those “thinkers”.
Moreover, there is an international tendency for the highest positions in
museums to be occupied by men, mostly white men, the greater part of whom
are curators, researchers, historians, or, at best, museologists, while the levels
below this, of an executive character, have their positions occupied extensively
by women, although efforts are needed in regard to gender equity.2
However, that there is an inherent risk when a significant part of the researchers
and curators remain focused on their research and at a distance from the public
and from other professionals in those same museums. In the controversial times
in which we live, with strong political polarizations, diminished individual
freedoms and decreasing opportunities for the least privileged in society to
participate in the construction of their own history, if the museum does not
engage in a real connection with society, how will it be relevant? (Simon, 2016)
In our world – with its maelstrom of images, disseminated and reproduced in a
myriad of virtual media formats that tend to obliterate their authorship and to
spread fake news at the same rate as real news, in which the web is constantly
available by touching a smartphone screen, thus amassing essential and unim-
2. Concerning this theme, search for the action launched by ICOM in March 2019 titled “Gender
mainstreaming: ICOM’s mission in the past three decades” (URL: https://icom.museum/en/news/
gender-mainstreaming-icoms-mission-in-the-past-three-decades/); and the formation, in 2016, of
the Gender Equity in Museums Movement (URL: https://www.genderequitymuseums.com/).
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
portant information with the same hierarchy of value – society needs, more
than ever, not a place where the correct answers are preformulated, dictated
by the experts, but rather a place where it is possible to be heard, in which
security springs from the possibility of personal constructions of meanings and
the development of critical thought, to individually assess if there are possible
truths, and to act collectively in the construction of a more equitable society.
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
We see that the ideas of “to instruct” and “to create” are important and meaning-
ful parts of the act of educating. However, these ideas seem to be contradictory.
On the one hand, “to instruct” is related to transmitting knowledge, training and
domesticating, presupposing the external existence of knowledge that is to be
transmitted to someone, while simultaneously adjusting the individualities to
pre-existing models, molding them to a pattern. On the other hand, “to create”
is related to giving existence to (someone), generating, and producing, while
presupposing an autonomy of the individuals in relation to preexisting models
and/or knowledge, as well as their intense participation in the construction
of meanings. That is, it presupposes an autonomy of signification.
To go deeper into these questions, we can seek the references in the clas-
sification of the theories of knowledge, starting from that which considers
knowledge as something that is external and given to the learner (a unique and
objective truth, therefore transmittable) and that which considers knowledge
as something to be constructed and created by the learner (with multiple
and contextual truths, which are therefore unrepeatable and impossible to
be transmitted) (Hein, 2006).
Up to now, the institution of the school has perpetuated an educational model
that sees the student as an empty recipient, ready to receive knowledge that
is always true and unquestionable, and this is what has ultimately given rise
to a profoundly mistaken idea of education.
”
The educational model that understands knowledge as something created,
constructed by the active action of the learner, taking into account his or
her previous experiences, is known as Constructivism and is fully articulated
within the pedagogical proposals of Paulo Freire, the internationally venerated
Brazilian educator.
That theoretician, besides proposing the dialogic model of education, held that
the true education process begins by building on the preexisting knowledge
of learners, to educate them with the aim of developing their critical capacity,
for the very necessary purpose of social transformation (Freire, 1981). Besides
being a model more suitable to the experiences that take place in the museum,
these attitudes point to the development of educational proposals aimed at
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
”
The concept of education, approached in the way discussed above, seems com-
pletely suitable for museum education, without the need for the creation of
any other nomenclature or theory to serve as a basis for this action.
Nevertheless, since the 1980s, texts have arisen proposing a change of nomencla-
ture based on apparently unclear reasoning. The proliferation of the term
“mediation” appears to be an attempt to espouse an approach through dia-
logue and a constructive action with the public, aiming at social modifica-
tion (Lemay-Perreault & Paquin, 2017)—all of which, as we have seen, is fully
considered in the proposals of a constructivist/Freirean museum education.
The French term médiation culturelle has been found in French statute law
since 2002 (Bordeaux & Caillet, 2013), and it is clearly associated with the sub-
sequent enrichment of the world and the appearance of social responsibility
divisions in companies the world over.
We cannot forget that the rise and expansion of the term “cultural mediation”
is connected to the formalization of French public policies of culture, and also
to the phenomenon of the growth of large exhibitions and museums in the
final decades of the last century and the beginning of this one, in response to
global economic and political interests. It was in these contexts that museum
education began to be a theme of interest for debates, including in regard to
the professionalization and training of the sector, due to the growth of invest-
ment in culture, which, not by chance, presupposed an exponential growth in
the number of visitors to events of a cultural character, as institutions sought
to promote the visibility of brands that support culture. This established spu-
rious criteria which yet today hold sway in most museums, such as that which
measures the “quality” of a cultural activity according to the relation between
the amounts invested and the number of people served.
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The scenario outlined above led to the increased hiring of people who could
intermediate the relationship of these large cultural events with the massive
public that is invited to them.
And it is in this context that the term “cultural mediation” was created and
expanded in Germany, France and Canada, justifying it as something different
from “education”, as supposedly it
”
Although often used today as synonymous with dialogue, the term “mediation”
should never be thought of as a substitute for the concept of education itself,
the latter being much deeper and more encompassing than the former. When
we espouse “museum education” as a nomenclature suitable to our practice,
we are also reiterating the need to understand culture not as a product and/
or expenditure, but as a personal enrichment and social right.
The term “mediation” has been disseminated by ICOM itself, apparently trying
to avoid an approach to museum education predicated on the mere transmission
of information. As shown by our above analysis, however, once we have chosen
to adopt constructivist and dialogic models, we have already broken away from
the educational approaches based on content, transmission and formalism.
In the publication Key Concepts of Museology, we note one of the main problems
in the use of the term “mediation”: namely, the idea of underlying conflict
that it bears.
”
Outside of the legal context, the term “mediation” implies a third entity that is
placed between the parties in conflict, in the sense of achieving an agreement
between them. But in this case, isn’t the spread of the term “mediation” only
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
a way for the French and European Academy to bring a new nomenclature
to museum education?
It is imperative for us to understand the fundamental role of museum education,
as well as the importance of the presence of the public beyond the numbers of
visitors in our museums. It is simple: the public is our reason to be.
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Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
References
83
Articles • In Defense of Museum Education
84
Articles • Defining Museum
Defining Museum
Defining
Museum
Ann Davis
A past president of ICOFOM – Canada
Abstract
Resumen
Definiendo Museo
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Articles • Defining Museum
*
This paper will create a new definition of museum that encompasses the rich
range of international museological practices. To do so, first there will be a
brief exploration of what constitutes an appropriate definition. Then the paper
will identify the salient features of museums, those which must be incorpo-
rated into a new definition. Finally, a new, somewhat radical definition will
be proposed and analysed.
A definition is a statement of meaning of a term (Copi, 1982, p. 90). Definitions
come in various categories, including intensional definitions, which give the
sense of a term, and extensional definitions, which list the objects that that
term describes. An intensional definition, sometimes called a connotative
definition, specifies the conditions necessary for a thing to be a member of
that specific set. It sets out the essence of something. For museums this might
include a building which houses artifacts for study and enjoyment. On the
other hand, an extensional definition, sometimes called a denotative defini-
tion, specifies its extension, a list of the objects that are members of that set
(Cope, 1982). For example an extensional definition of museum could include
the list of what institutions might be considered museums, such as historical
monuments and zoos as well as scientific centres and art galleries, as outlined
by François Mairesse in “The Term Museum” (2010, pp.19 – 20). The past ICOM
definitions have been mostly intentional rather than extensional in nature,
although a list of accepted museological organizations could be derived from
such definitions. The definition proposed below will therefore be intentional
in nature.
Certain rules have traditionally been applied to definitions, especially to
intentional definitions. These include that the definition must contain the
essential attributes of the thing being defined, that it must be not too wide
or too narrow so that it does not miss anything out but also does not apply to
anything else, and that it is presented in commonly understood terms (Copi,
pp. 100–101). In forming a definition of museum for an international audience,
it is especially important to consider these three points, for any accepted defi-
nition will be widely use and translated into numerous languages (Mairesse,
2010; Edson, 2010). Two people who have carefully considered how to revise
the ICOM definition of museum, François Mairesse and Gary Edson, agree.
For Edson “Definitions are intended to briefly, and in the most precise terms,
state what a word means” (2010, p. 60). Mairesse wants a definition “that is
truly current, open and flexible” (2010, p. 56), favouring the kind of statement
you find in a dictionary (Marshall, 2020). The ICOM committee tasked with
creating a new definition (MDPP) explained that “A definition of museums
should be clear and easy to understand, and should convey the spirit, the
essence, the overall purposes of museums ….” (Sandahl, 2019). The definition
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should be clear and short because of how widely it is used, for well beyond the
museum community, governments, funders and the public seek to know and
understand what a museum is (Call for Papers, Sandahl, 2019; Mairesse, 2010;
Edson, 2010). It also must be flexible enough to accommodate the impressive
diversity of museums around the world (Brown & Mairesse, 2018). In short,
a new ICOM definition must be suitable for use all around the world, must
be simple and straight forward, and must distinguish museums from other
collecting bodies, such as archives and libraries.
What are the essential attributes of museum? One way to identify them is to
look to past ICOM definitions, such as that of Georges Henri Rivière from 1960:
and that of 2007, in which collections are qualified to be tangible and intangible:
”
From these three definitions, and there are numerous others, it is possible to
identify and isolate some main components of museums as ICOM has seen
them in the past. These include governance (non-profit, permanent institution,
open to the public); collecting (all three); exhibiting (all three); educating
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(all three); people (public) and purpose (1960 “delectation and instruction
of … objects”; “in the service of society and its development” 1974 and 2007).
It appears, then that a new definition should include governance, collecting,
exhibiting, educating, people and purpose.
Before looking more closely at this list, it is important to consider what else
might or should be included in such a new definition: what are the current
ideas. Much work in this regard has been done by the ICOM Committee for
Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials, commonly referred to by the
acronym MDPP. Jetty Sandahl, the chair of this committee, noted that the old
definitions do not include values and assumptions considered central today
(Sandahl, 2017). Paramount here is the potentially important role of commu-
nities in museums. In December 2018, The MDPP recommended to the ICOM
Executive Board a long list of elements that it felt were necessary parameters in
a new definition (Sandahl, 2019). These include museums’ “value base”, “collec-
ting, preserving, documenting, researching, exhibiting and … communicating
the collections…”, acknowledging “the crisis in nature and the imperative to
develop and implement sustainable solutions”, acknowledging “vastly different
world views”, acknowledging “deep societal inequalities and asymmetries of
power and wealth”, expressing “the unity of museums with the collaboration…
[with] their communities”, the commitment to be “meaningful meeting places
and open diverse platforms for learning and exchange” and accountability and
transparency (Sandahl, 2019). The Executive Board agreed to this list, many
items of which were to facilitate and promote museums’ social role. We should
remember that the MDPP had a dual mandate, on the one hand, to “document
and analyse prevalent societal trends and how these impact museums” and, on
the other hand, to propose a new definition (Sandahl, 2019). Ultimately these
two purposes were conflated by the MDPP – for this committee created the list
of necessary parameters – such that the resulting draft definition, all 99 words
of it, was a jumble of terms and concepts that met with little acceptance and
did not adhere to the rules of a good definition outlined above. The goals were
fine. The committee attempted to decolonize their proposed definition from
the old definitions and anchor it “in a larger framework of general societal
trends and issues of the 21st century.” Part of the effort, part of the recognition
of the problem was “to counter the systemic European and Western dominance”
(Sandahl, 2019) that has so bedevilled ICOM and its committees for years.
Unfortunately these many goals, and especially the specific list of required
parameters, made the task of crafting a short, comprehensive definition that
would satisfy Copi, Mairesse and Edson virtually impossible.
Opponents mustered. For the conservatives, the major point of contention was
whether museums should have social or political responsibilities in addition
to their stewardship of collections. A group of 24 nations, many from Europe
and led by France, pushed to postpone the vote when the draft definition was
presented in Kyoto in September 2019 (Marshall, 2020). Subsequently seve-
ral members of the MDPP, including the chair, resigned. In July 2020, these
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A proposed definition
By collecting, exhibiting and educating, the museum is a not-for-profit organization in
which people preserve the past, probe the present and prepare the future.
This intentional definition seeks to identify the main characteristics of museum,
the essential attributes that apply to all such bodies. The first half of this defi-
nition follows closely the old definitions; the second half is a different, perhaps
radical new departure. The structure of this definition is straightforward,
with the purpose of a museum identified as preserving the past, probing the
present and preparing the future; the tools to do so are noted as collecting,
exhibiting and educating, the administrative unit is identified as a not-for-
profit organization, and the workers necessary to put all of this into effect are
recorded as people. Not all museums will encompass all of these features all
of the time: some museums concentrate on collecting and exhibiting and do
little if any educating, while others are more interested in probing the present
and preparing the future but spend little time preserving the past (Mairesse,
2010; Edson, 2010; Sandahl, 2019).
Missing in this definition is a whole range of specifics that might be included
and have been included in past definitions. Rather, these are often implied
here. For example, the three past definitions noted here stated that the museum
was open to the public. Yet one might suggest that exhibiting and educating
or interpreting are for the public, so visitors need not be separately specified.
And it is certainly implied that preserving the past, probing the present and
preparing the future are for the benefit of society. The 1974 definition identi-
fied the subjects covered more precisely as the “material evidence of man and
his environment”, gendered terminology that would be frowned upon today.
Later, the 2007 definition felt it necessary to include in its scope the “tangible
and intangible” heritage of humanity. These definitions, however, as François
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Mairesse (2010, p. 54) opines, have “not undergone any fundamental change”
– and Edson (2010, p. 66) agrees.
Collecting, exhibiting and educating are generally accepted as the prime
methods all museums use to convey their messages, the “how” they do their
work. All previous definitions included these and they were deemed essential
in MDPP’s parameters. What the museum collects is left open, such that both
the tangible and the intangible can be included. Also, the nature of the col-
lection, be it automobiles, plants, scientific instruments or woodcuts, is not
prescribed. The same breadth of possibilities should be assumed with exhibiting
and interpreting. A museum may show exclusively its own collection, or may
bring in travelling exhibitions or other types of displays. Education encom-
passes communication, interpretation and enjoyment. It may be directed by
the museum, by the visitor or the community.
This definition substitutes not-for-profit for non-profit since it is recognized
that many museums now-a-days seek to make some money though a shop,
restaurant and membership in addition to the gate. Furthermore, museums
may also look for financial donations to support acquisitions, programming
and building. At the same time, the designation is needed for it is important
to distinguish museums from commercial, for-profit institutions.
Another wording problem is what to call this body museum. The 1974 and
2007 ICOM definitions used institution, as do Mairesse, Edson and Brown
(Mairesse, 2010; Edson, 2010; Brown and Mairesse, 2018). A substitute might
be organization or establishment, the latter term used in 1960, but, in English
institution is stronger and implies greater permanence. Bruno Brulon Soares
(2018, p. 167) notes that, in some countries such as Brazil, an institution is a
legal entity, requiring expensive bureaucratic legitimation, which prevents indi-
genous communities or traditional groups from creating their own recognized
museums. The English equivalent might be corporation, which also requires
legal recognition. Perhaps in Brazil this is a matter of the translation of the
definition into Portuguese.1 Certainly translation is always a challenging and
sensitive matter. The original language of the draft is germane, in this case
English, recognizing that different terminological subtleties exist from one
language to another, a problem to which Edson is particularly sensitive. In
light of these concerns, this definition chose organization.
The single most important word in this new definition is people. Here is a
word which is directed to subtlety addressing the MDPP’s concerns about
“asymmetries of power and wealth” and supporting “the unity of the expert
1. If the same word exists in two languages, the tendency is to assume that the meanings are the
same in each language, which may be a dangerous assumption. A good translator knows the specific
meaning in each language and, if they differ, can find an appropriate culturally specific synonym.
Mediation in English and médiation in French are examples. In French in museums médiation means
interpretation. In English mediation in museums means arbitration between two or more disputing
persons. When used in English in museums mediation does not mean interpretation.
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the past to the present. Today classic museums propose to preserve the past.
Most, but not all museums still focus on some aspect of the past. However,
increasingly museums have an interest in social issues, which perforce changes
the timeline from the past to the present, and perhaps the future.
Further to the notion of shifting time is a shift in the role of the public, or
the visitor. Community and ecomuseums forced a new relationship between
the population and the museum. Now the community, fed up with what they
perceived to be elitist or esoteric, pushed for participation in the operation
of the museum. In addition, we have new understandings of how the visitor
apprehends the museum and its contents. This is in the present, seeing the past
through the eyes of his or her particular present. John Falk (2016, p. 77) explains
that museum visitors come partly to construct or to continue to construct self
and identity, a process that involves integrating past and present. “…[A]s active
meaning seekers, most museum visitors engaged in a degree of self-reflection
and self-interpretation about their visit experience.” This inevitably leads to
a blurring of temporal boundaries: now the future is also germane alongside
the present and the past. Those museums that specifically concentrate on the
social may be more conscious of a present and future, as well as a past.
The advantage of reformatting purposes to a time line, rather than some sta-
tement about service to society, is that a time line is much more open, more
fluid, and more able to accommodate every museum ideology without being
judgmental. This definition is not directed toward any single museum theory or
practice. It is freely available to the varied linguistic and cultural groups around
the world (Brown & Mairesse, 2018). It is neutral, unrestricted, and addresses
that inclusive decolonization that the MDPP trumpeted. Ducking supporting
one theoretical pole or the other, here the new definition suggests that many
interpretations are valid, and that ICOM should not judge the worth of one
theory over another. This fulfills the MDPP’s desire that the new definition
“should acknowledge and recognize with respect and consideration the vastly
different world views, conditions and traditions under which museums work
across the globe” (Sandahl, 2019).
The effects of the combination of these new who – people, and new what
– purposes, are many. It is fundamental to freeing museums, giving them a
longer runway. It opens the purpose of any museum to national, regional and
local determination and thus eliminates Eurocentric control. It overcomes
colonialism; it puts the power in the hands of the museological organization.
It allows but does not require attention to “climate crisis and the environment”
(Sandahl, 2019). If desired, it accepts that attention be paid to a whole range
of other social issues, local ones, new ones. And in no way does it hinder those
museums that want to emphasize their collections and not deal with difficult
social concerns.
This new definition is built on clearly identifying the fundamentals of museums,
the how, the why and the who, those characteristics without which the organi-
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References
Brown, K., & Mairesse, F. (2018). The definition of the museum through its
social role. Curator: The Museum Journal, 61(4), 525–539.
Brulon Soares, B. (2018). Museum in colonial contexts: the politics of defining
an imported definition. In B. Brulon Soares, K. Brown & O. Nazor
(Eds.), Defining museums of the 21st century: plural experiences (pp. 61–79).
Paris: ICOFOM.
Brulon Soares, B., Brown, K., & Nazor, O. (Eds.). (2018). Defining museums of
the 21st century: plural experiences. Paris: ICOFOM.
Copi, I. (1982). Introduction to Logic. New York: Macmillan.
Davis, A., Desvallées, A., & Mairesse, F. (Eds.) (2010). What is a Museum? Munich,
Germany: Verlag Dr. Müller-Straten.
Davis, A., & Smeds, K. (Eds.) (2016). Visiting the Visitor: An enquiry Into the
Visitor Business in Museums. Bielefeld: transcript.
Edson, G. (2010). Defining Museum. In A. Davis, A. Desvallées & F. Mairesse
(Eds.), What is a Museum? (pp. 59–67). Munich, Germany: Verlag Dr.
Müller-Straten.
Falk, J. (2016). Viewing the Museum Experience though an Identify Lens. In A.
Davis & K. Smeds (Eds.), Visiting the Visitor: An enquiry Into the Visitor
Business in Museums (pp. 71–88). Bielefeld: transcript, 2016.
Mairesse, F. (2010). The Term Museum. In A. Davis, A. Desvallées & F. Mai-
resse (Eds.), What is a Museum? (pp. 19–58). Munich, Germany: Verlag
Dr. Müller-Straten.
Mairesse, F. (2011). Musée. In A. Desvallées & F. Mairesse (Dirs.), Dictionnaire
encyclopédique de muséologie (pp. 308–312). Paris: Armand Colin.
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Articles • Intangible Cultural Heritage museums: Further considerations [...]
Intangible
Cultural Heritage
museums:
Further
considerations
for a new
museum
definition
Alix Ferrer-Yulfo
Newcastle University – Newcastle upon Tyne,
United Kingdom
Abstract
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Articles • Intangible Cultural Heritage museums: Further considerations [...]
Resumen
*
Introduction
It has been 20 years since ICOFOM published its first issue considering the
topic of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). With increasing attention given
to ICH as the neglected side of cultural heritage in the international heritage
discourse, Museology and Intangible Heritage1 (Vieregg & Davis, Eds., 2000)
1. This was the title of ICOFOM Study Series #32, which was published in 2000, edited by Hilde-
gard Vieregg and Ann Davis.
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Articles • Intangible Cultural Heritage museums: Further considerations [...]
2. For example, the Charter for the Protection of Intangible Heritage [Shanghai Charter] (ICOM-AS-
PAC, 2002) called for museums to become facilitators in safeguarding ICH, while the 2004 Seoul
Declaration of ICOM on the Intangible Heritage [Seoul Declaration] endorsed the ICHC, strengthening
ICOM’s commitment to ICH safeguarding. However, it was the 2004 Oestgest Declaration on the
Roles of Museums in Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (Bouquet, 2004) that focused specifically
on how museums could support the implementation of the ICHC and the challenges ICH could
present to museum practice.
3. IMP was co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union. The project was led
in partnership by organizations in Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and France.
4. In defining the encounters of museums and ICH, the project adopted Homi K. Bhaba’s concept
of a “third space” as one where alternative positions emerge and new authoritative structures can
be set up.
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Articles • Intangible Cultural Heritage museums: Further considerations [...]
the museum world globally. This paper suggests the need to consider museums
focusing on particular ICH elements, or what can be termed ICH museums,
when seeking to develop a museum definition and further understanding the
opportunities and challenges museums can encounter when engaging with
ICH. It briefly introduces the Museo del Baile Flamenco as an example of
an ICH museum.5 Exploring these more-specialized museums will not only
provide additional perspectives in broadening museum practices but also help
in understanding operational and structural challenges for conceptualizing
museums in the 21st century.
ICH Museums
ICH museums are museological organizations that have been purposefully
created for the presentation, promotion and safeguarding of a particular ICH
element as defined by the ICHC (Ferrer-Yulfo, 2020). Specifically, ICH museums
focus on one or more of the domains through which ICH can be manifested:
• (a) oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of
the intangible cultural heritage;
• (b) performing arts;
• (c) social practices, rituals and festive events;
• (d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
• (e) traditional craftsmanship (UNESCO, 2003, Article 2.2)
These subject-specific museums might differ from other museological models
(e.g. community museums, ecomuseums) in that a particular ICH element
is their main theme, the focus of museum work and what is to be expressed
through the objects, activities and experiences (Ferrer-Yulfo, 2020). Additio-
nally, while ICH museums can be managed and staffed by museum professio-
nals, ICH practitioners are actively involved in the museum’s work and, in
some cases, its management although to varying degrees. Nevertheless, ICH
practitioners retain control over the management and safeguarding of the
ICH expression itself.
Blake (2015; 2018a; 2018b) found some examples of this type of museum while
examining Periodic Reports submitted in compliance with the ICHC from 2011–
2013. She describes the creation of ICH-related or ICH museums as a strategy
for safeguarding ICH followed in some countries. For example, in Turkey,
the Intangible Cultural Heritage Applied Museum in Ankara not only holds
collections covering all domains of ICH but also allows their practice within
the museum, while the Living Museum in the Beypazari Municipality seeks to
revitalize and safeguard ICH elements through the active participation of ICH
5. For more information on the Museo del Baile Flamenco as an ICH museum see Ferrer-Yulfo,
2017 and 2018.
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would influence the development of these museums in those cases where their
subject was inscribed in the Representative List (Ferrer-Yulfo, 2020).
Currently, there are many more subject-specific museums that can be consi-
dered ICH museums. Some developed as the Operational Directives were
being drafted, and others were conceived as a direct response to the call for
museums to get involved (UNESCO, 2018). These include: the Museu Vivo do
Fandando, Brazil, started in 2002 and included in UNESCO’s Register of Good
Safeguarding Practices in 2011; the Museo del Baile Flamenco, Seville (2006); the
Museo del Danzante Xiqueño, Mexico (2015); and the Jamaica International
Reggae Museum (under development). Not surprisingly, some of these focus
on an ICH element inscribed on the Representative List.6
Based on observations from the submitted reports, Blake (2015, p. 33; 2018a, pp.
25–26), suggests that the establishment of these types of museums is an impor-
tant safeguarding action since these can serve many purposes: from centres
for interpretation, documentation and training to spaces for performances,
craftwork and exhibitions. Previously, Alivizatou (2012, p. 191) had proposed
that within UNESCO’s ICH paradigm, the museum should be envisioned as
“a cultural centre”: a space for sharing ideas, bringing people together and
promoting intercultural dialogue rather than the one-dimensional dissemi-
nation of knowledge. If museums are to safeguard ICH they would require
a transformation, not only of their institutional framework but also of their
functions and their relationships with those they seek to serve (Alivizatou,
2012). This idea was further supported by IMP which saw the museum as a
meeting place between ICH practitioners and museum professionals, “where
ICH can be performed and transmitted, and where new links and relations
can be created and reinvented” (Cominelli, 2020, p. 66).
Although there are a number of ICH museums, the information presented
about some of these cases is limited and largely descriptive (e.g. Periodic Reports,
IMP). While Pimentel, Pereira and Corrêa (2011) provide an overview of the
challenges and opportunities of creating a museological project focused on an
ICH element, their discussion is limited to a description of the development
of the Museu Vivo do Fandango. Given the lack of research, the Museo del
Baile Flamenco and the Museu do Fado were investigated from 2017–2018 to
understand how ICH museums are organized, how they function and what
lessons can be learned from them (Ferrer-Yulfo, 2020). In the following sec-
tion, the Museo del Baile Flamenco is introduced to provide an idea of the
importance of considering these types of museums.7
6. Flamenco was inscribed on the Representative List in 2010 and Reggae in 2018.
7. This theme is further explored through a more in-depth discussion of the Museo del Baile
Flamenco and the Museu do Fado as ICH museums currently in preparation.
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“to enable people to understand and feel one of the main intangible
cultural expressions of Andalusia through multimedia exhibitions
about flamenco dance; exhibitions of objects related to flamenco;
conferences, talks and presentations about the origins, structures,
development and current manifestation of flamenco; and flamenco
cultural events” (Museo del Baile Flamenco, 2013, p. 3).8
”
The museum is managed by members of Hoyos’ family and staffed by a combi-
nation of cultural management professionals and flamenco ICH practitioners.
Its main mode of exhibition and display is through audio-visual material with
fewer material objects (e.g. dresses, shoes, memorabilia). This approach is based
on the museum team’s understanding of flamenco as an act of communica-
tion, a process that is transmitted and better appreciated in action, including
recorded performances (Grötsch, 2006). Based on this conception, museum
activities include organizing flamenco performances, providing flamenco les-
sons, and coordinating workshops and events that promote flamenco as the
livelihood of many.
It has been argued that the museum developed a strategic museographic design
for simultaneously making flamenco a museum experience (i.e. “musealizing”9
flamenco) and safeguarding it as an ICH expression within the performing
arts (Ferrer-Yulfo, 2017). This museographic design comprises several compo-
nents: a school, a performance space and a multipurpose space that works as
a learning lab and temporary art gallery in addition to its permanent exhibi-
tion, which is a space with digital displays called the Interactive Museum. It
8. Author’s translation.
9. As explained by Desvallées and Mairesse (2010), the term “musealization” is seldom used in
English-language scholarly work and is interpreted differently depending on language and context.
In the case of ICH museums, musealization involves a complex process of adapting the museum
and its functions by considering the nature and characteristics of intangible cultural elements in
its development.
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Figure 1
The MBF’s components and the different safeguarding actions these enable corresponding
to the MBF’s objectives (Ferrer-Yulfo, 2020).
As described in Figure 1, different museum functions and safeguarding actions
can be achieved through the MBF’s museographic design. The Interactive
Museum focuses on raising awareness of flamenco history and practices through
digital and interactive displays. The performing arts stage is a space where ICH
practitioners can communicate, disseminate and revitalize flamenco practices
through performance to visitors interested in appreciating this ICH expression.
The Flamenco School allows the intergenerational transmission of flamenco
knowledge and practices, while the multifunctional space – where temporary
exhibitions and workshops take place – enables the exploration of flamenco
through other creative practices and practice-based research. This illustrates
how museum functions can be expanded to include ICH safeguarding actions
in museums specifically focused on ICH elements. It also demonstrates the
opportunities brought by the convergence of different fields such as digital
media technologies, creative industries, museology and cultural tourism. In
this case, it is an experience where an ICH element like flamenco can be
appreciated in the museum, while also being safeguarded.
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Conclusion
ICH museums will continue to emerge as the impact of the ICHC expands
throughout the world. Therefore, it is important to continue exploring the
effects of the ICH paradigm on the development of the museum field and
consequently on a re-evaluated definition of museums. As an example of an
ICH museum, the experience of the MBF contributes to the current debates
regarding the new museum definition by illustrating the intersections between
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the museum field and the management and practices of ICH. Museum functions
might be reframed and/or expanded, while museum structures might take
several forms combining elements from other cultural sectors. Additionally,
careful consideration must be given when museological projects are carried
out by ICH practitioners since an official museum definition might pose a
challenge when seeking financial support.
By briefly presenting the MBF’s approach to musealizing and safeguarding an
ICH element, this paper makes the case for further exploring ICH museums
as phenomena that can support a deeper understanding of the complexities
of ICH, as well as the diversity of museum practices and approaches that
have developed since ICH came to the fore. As argued, ICH museums are
evidence of alternative museological responses to the ICH paradigm. They
allow an exploration of the strategies used to accommodate ICH expressions
in a museological setting while considering the inherent characteristics of this
element of heritage. Additionally, they can illustrate the nuanced relationship
between ICH and the museum and the complex task of (re)defining museum
practices in the 21st century. They challenge us to think more broadly about
who defines a museum and how. They call for a more open-minded approach
to understanding museums as hybrid spaces where different heritage elements,
actors and fields converge.
References
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Nikolić Đerić, T. (2020). How: To use this book? is this book organised? In T.
Nikolić Đerić, J. Neyrinck, E. Seghers & E. Tsakiridis (Eds.), Museums
and Intangible Cultural Heritage: Towards a Third Space in the Heritage Sector
(pp. 16–17). Bruges: Werkplaats Immaterieel Erfgoed.
Nikolić Đerić, T., Neyrinck, J., Seghers, E., & Tsakiridis, E. (Eds.). (2020).
Museums and Intangible Cultural Heritage: Towards a Third Space in the
Heritage Sector. Bruges: Werkplaats Immaterieel Erfgoed.
Perricone, R. (2019, October 30.). A performance museum. Intangible Cultural
Heritage and Museums Project. https://www.ichandmuseums.eu/en/
inspiration2/detail-2/a-performance-museum
Pimentel, A., Pereira, E., & Corrêa, J. (2011). Museu Vivo do Fandango: aproxi-
mações entre cultura, patrimônio e territorio. 35° Encontro Anual da
ANPOCS, GT19 – Memória social, museus e patrimonios (pp. 1–20).
Stefano, M. (2010). Outside Museum Walls: Safeguarding Intangible Cultural
Heritage in North East England. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation].
Newcastle University.
UNESCO (2003). Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Retrieved from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001325/132540e.
pdf
UNESCO (2018). Operational Directives for the Implementation of the Convention for
the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Retrieved from https://
ich.unesco.org/doc/src/ICH-Operational_Directives-7.GA-PDF-EN.pdf
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Resumen
Résumé
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Abstract
*
Introducción
El presente texto surge de la iniciativa del ICOFOM de revisar la definición
del concepto museo, ante el cambio que se propuso el año pasado en la confe-
rencia general del ICOM en Kioto, Japón. Revisaremos el marco legal del
concepto “museo” en México, algunas definiciones propuestas y la realidad
del uso de este concepto en algunos espacios museísticos contrastados por la
desigualdad social.
Pero veamos cuál era la nueva definición propuesta en Kioto:
”
1. ICOM website (2019). ICOM announces the alternative museum definition that will be subject
to a vote. Recuperado de: https://icom.museum/en/news/icom-announces-the-alternative-museum-
definition-that-will-be-subject-to-a-vote/.
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”
En donde podemos ver que los principales cambios propuestos en esta nueva
acepción tienen que ver con que ya no se nombra institución y ya no tiene
que ser un espacio educativo, funciones que han asumido muchos espacios
museísticos y algunas otras instituciones, como los centros culturales desde
hace varios años. Pero para comenzar a indagar cual es el sentido actual del
museo en México, revisemos un poco de su historia y de su marco legal.
2. ICOM Statutes, adopted by the 22nd General Assembly (Vienna, Austria, 24 August 2007).
Recuperado en: http://archives.icom.museum/hist_def_eng.html.
3. Fue el primer presidente del México independiente y gobernó de 1824 a 1829.
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lo que podría decirse entonces que este espacio era un museo escuela (De la
Garza Arregui, 2017).
Durante el gobierno de Porfirio Díaz (1830-1915)4 al crecer la cantidad de
colecciones etnográficas, resultado de las excavaciones, las colecciones de His-
toria Natural fueron trasladadas a un edificio creado para la celebración del
centenario de la independencia, que actualmente es denominado el Museo
Universitario del Chopo. Finalmente, las colecciones de Historia Natural fueron
trasladadas a un espacio diseñado para ello en el Bosque de Chapultepec y que
pertenece a la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente, el Museo de Historia Natural y
Cultura Ambiental de la Ciudad de México, dedicado a “desarrollar programas y
a colaborar de manera intensa con diversas instituciones educativas y culturales
para brindar una amplia oferta de actividades que promuevan la divulgación
de las ciencias naturales y el cuidado del medio ambiente” (SEDEMA, 2019).
Este lugar tiene el “compromiso de propiciar espacios de aprendizaje y diálogo
entorno a diversos temas de interés común, para conocerlos e intercambiar
ideas que contribuyan a que cada visitante reflexione y se sienta motivado a
tomar una participación activa en su contexto local” (SEDEMA, 2019) llevando
a cabo diversas actividades.
Por otro lado, el edificio en la calle de Plateros, hoy Madero, se convierte en
el Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Historia y Etnografía y desde 1945 única-
mente se le denominó Museo Nacional de Antropología, ya que las colecciones
denominadas históricas son llevadas al Castillo de Chapultepec, formando el
Museo Nacional de Historia que tiene como objetivo resguardar “la memoria
de la historia de México, desde la conquista de Tenochtitlan hasta la Revolu-
ción Mexicana a través de una diversidad de objetos representativos de cuatro
siglos de historia. El Castillo de Chapultepec, fue construido en 1785 durante
el gobierno del virrey de la Nueva España, Bernardo de Gálvez, se creó para
casa de descanso, pero a través del tiempo se fue adecuando a diferentes usos:
colegio militar, residencia imperial con Maximiliano y Carlota (1864-1867),
residencia presidencial y, desde 1939, sede del Museo Nacional de Historia
(INAH, 2020).
Posteriormente, la colección etnográfica y arqueológica es llevada a un edificio
diseñado y creado en 1964 por el arquitecto Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (1919- 2013)
y que actualmente es la sede del Museo Nacional de Antropología5.
Por otro lado, en 1934 se funda en el Palacio de las Bellas Artes el Museo de
Artes Plásticas, que permanece en ese sitio hasta 1964, cuando se funda el
4. Fue presidente de México en siete ocasiones. En total ocupó la presidencia de México por 31
años, una extensión sin precedentes, y cuyo lapso en la historia de México es denominado como
Porfiriato, periodo que comprende del 1 de diciembre de 1884 al 25 de mayo de 1911.
5. Para Luis Gerardo Morales Moreno en estos espacios surgía la “museopatria” que es la emergen-
cia del museo como un templo sagrado ocurrida durante el periodo de 1887-1964 y que pretendía la
neutralidad frente al conocimiento científico (Morales,1994).
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Articles • Hacia una nueva definición de museo en México
”
En este texto se evidencia, como se pensaba en la cultura indígena como algo
muerto, cuando existen un sin número de comunidades que forman parte de
estos pueblos originarios. También se observa como el museo puede ser un
espacio de “ruptura” con el pasado, donde se pone en escena la política cultural
en turno. Por ejemplo: con la fundación del Museo Nacional Mexicano, después
de la Independencia en la calle de Madero o con la mudanza de la colección de
historia al Castillo de Chapultepec6, dejando este espacio de ser la residencia
de los presidentes, para convertirse en un lugar público y de exhibición.
Este tipo de situaciones y eventos resultan ser cíclicos, en diciembre de 2018
este nuevo gobierno creó el nuevo Complejo Cultural “Los Pinos”, antes resi-
dencia de los gobernantes desde Lázaro Cárdenas (1875-1970)7 hasta Enrique
Peña Nieto (1966)8. Este conjunto cultural presenta colecciones artísticas,
etnográficas e históricas, a la usanza del primer museo.
El presidente de México dejó esta residencia y regresó al Palacio Nacional9,
quizás pensando en una transformación, que resulta poco coherente si hablamos
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112
Articles • Hacia una nueva definición de museo en México
”
Es decir, para él, el museo es una obra de arte en si misma, en esta definición
entrarían todos aquellos espacios arquitectónicos que contienen colecciones.
Para él es importante el contenedor y que este se ponga en diálogo con el
contenido. Sin embargo, nunca deja de lado la generación de conocimiento
como algo que debe realizarse en este espacio.
También tenemos la definición de museo que presenta Lauro Zavala en el
Antimanual del Museólogo. Hacia una museología de la vida cotidiana:
Los museos son espacios públicos, físicos y/o virtuales, permanentes, sin fines
de lucro, al servicio de la sociedad y su desarrollo, que se ocupan de la adqui-
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Articles • Hacia una nueva definición de museo en México
10. En 1978, el Informe Warnock, publicado en el Reino Unido, contempla el término integración
como parte de un movimiento de la “normalización” en los países occidentales que adoptaba diver-
sas formas: ubicación (insertar físicamente a los alumnos con “necesidades especiales” en centros
escolares ordinarios), interacción social (cierto grado de interacción social aunque no educativa
entre niños con discapacidad y sus compañeros escolarizados normalmente), e integración funcio-
nal (un nivel no especificado de participación en actividades y experiencias comunes). Diferente a
la inclusión, ya que ésta implica la reestructuración del espacio de modo que se pueda acomodar a
todos los demandantes, sea cual sea su discapacidad (es una “acomodación” más que una “asimila-
ción”), y garantizar su inserción en una comunidad (Avramidis & Norwich, 2004).
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Articles • Hacia una nueva definición de museo en México
11. Tutores Comunitarios de Verano es una estrategia educativa que tiene como fundamento los
estudios de los sociólogos estadounidenses Karl Alexander y Doris Entwistle, quienes mediante la
evaluación del antes y después del verano pudieron constatar que los niños provenientes de hogares
de bajo nivel socioeconómico perdían conocimiento durante este periodo debido a que sus padres
pocas veces podían apoyarlos en reforzarlos. Esta investigación observó el desempeño de 790 alum-
nos de 20 colegios en Baltimore, Estados Unidos. El seguimiento comenzó cuando los niños ingre-
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Articles • Hacia una nueva definición de museo en México
entre 6 y 12 años) dentro de este proyecto existía una actividad donde los niños
aprendían qué es un museo y debían realizar uno en su comunidad, con la fina-
lidad de desarrollar habilidades de pensamiento. Se les pedía formar equipos
de distintos grados, ir a entrevistar a sus familiares y recolectar objetos valiosos
de sus casas que reflejaran algo de su comunidad para ser exhibidos. Los niños
debían al finalizar esta actividad contestar a las preguntas ¿qué es un museo?
Y ¿qué contiene un museo? Posteriormente se les compartía la definición del
ICOM con algunas variaciones, como se presenta a continuación:
Museo: es una institución pública o privada, sin fines de lucro, al servicio de la
sociedad y está abierta al público. Adquiere, conserva, investiga, comunica y
expone o exhibe colecciones de arte, científicas, entre otras, con propósitos de
estudio, educación y deleite, siempre con un valor cultural (Ávila Hernández,
A. et al., 2010).
Esto quiere decir, que las poblaciones y comunidades, muchas de ellas indíge-
nas, que participaban en este programa conocerían este concepto “museo”
por primera vez a partir de una definición escolarizada, en español, que es su
segunda lengua y con el uso de palabras que quizá no comprendían. Durante una
comisión o viaje a una comunidad en septiembre de 2010, cuando en México se
festejaban las fiestas del Bicentenario de la Independencia y Centenario de la
Revolución, supe que la palabra “cultura”, al menos para las etnias tepehuanas
localizadas en Santa María Ocotán en el Mezquital, Durango, era asociada con
“culto”, en su acepción religiosa, además de vivir las carencias de tener una
telesecundaria sin luz, instructores a los que se les pagaba con cheque cuando
no había banco en la comunidad y quienes tenían que pagarle al transportista
de una importante refresquera internacional un porcentaje de su sueldo para
que les cambiara el importe.
Estar una semana en una comunidad te hace comprender que no debemos
de dar por sentado algún conocimiento que queremos compartir ya que los
contextos son distintos, por ejemplo, había lugares a los que solo se accedía
caminando por una o hasta cinco horas.
En el año 2012, se logró implementar este programa en todos los estados de la
República Mexicana, siendo atendidos 1,946 servicios comunitarios. Lo cual
quería decir que 9,794 niños supieron por primera vez qué era un museo a
partir de esta actividad.
saron al grado primero básico y terminó cuando cumplieron 22 años (Alexander, K. & Entwistle, D.
2007, pp. 167-80). Cabe señalar que en 2020 se terminó el apoyo a este programa dentro del Consejo
Nacional de Fomento Educativo.
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Articles • Hacia una nueva definición de museo en México
Aguasca- 10 10 49 4.9
lientes
Baja Califor- 10 8 35 3.5
nia
Baja Califor- 20 17 62 3.1
nia Sur
Campeche 46 33 176 3.8
Coahuila 10 10 29 2.9
Colima 10 7 62 6.2
Chiapas 284 248 1,075 3.8
Chihuahua 21 14 49 2.3
Durango 13 12 51 3.9
Guanajuato 69 65 309 4.5
Guerrero 340 200 1,696 5.0
Hidalgo 118 100 416 3.5
Jalisco 57 51 213 3.7
México 168 98 527 3.1
Michoacán 142 113 503 3.5
Morelos 20 16 86 4.3
Nayarit 32 23 82 2.6
Nuevo León 24 17 74 3.1
Oaxaca 345 247 1,318 3.8
Puebla 179 90 512 2.9
Querétaro 93 69 297 3.2
Quintana 16 10 51 3.2
Roo
San Luis 197 161 665 3.4
Potosí
Sinaloa 41 43/2 187 4.6
Sonora 29 19 99 3.4
Tabasco 23 20 134 5.8
Tamaulipas 55 43 174 3.2
Tlaxcala 20 17 79 4.0
Veracruz 140 114 536 3.8
Yucatán 23 19 72 3.1
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Articles • Hacia una nueva definición de museo en México
Conclusiones
Estos museos comunitarios creados ex profeso para esta actividad, cumplían
una función educativa complementaria, ya que en realidad la guía tenía como
función apoyar y mejorar los conocimientos adquiridos en las materias de
español y matemáticas, pero en el caso de esta actividad cuya función era
apoyar y fomentar el pensamiento crítico, no pasó de ser una actividad esco-
lar, que marcaba la guía del TCV y que no hablaba en ningún momento de la
búsqueda de identidad o memoria de la comunidad, conceptos relacionados
con la nueva museología y con la museología crítica, sólo se planteaba al museo
como el lugar donde presentar colecciones. Estos museos creados como parte
de una tarea fueron efímeros, pero sí apoyaron al conocimiento del pasado
de sus participantes.
Sin embargo, como ya comenté antes, no todos los alumnos comprendían las
palabras de la definición presentada, se tenía que explicar qué era coleccio-
nismo, qué era deleite y qué era cultura.
Ya que una definición es: “Una proposición que expone con claridad y exactitud
los caracteres genéricos y diferenciales de algo material o inmaterial” (RAE,
2020), se puede decir que la definición propuesta actualmente por el ICOM
y que está en discusión no es concisa, su ambigüedad podría causar mayores
problemas entre las poblaciones que no llegarían quizá a comprender todos
los conceptos que presenta.
También hay que considerar que, al menos en México en 2019, había 126,577,691
habitantes, y en términos de accesibilidad estaríamos hablando en ese entonces
de que cada museo debería ser visitado por al menos 91,260 personas, lo cual no
se cumple en todos los casos, porque el gobierno está centralizado y entonces
estos espacios están ubicados en 574 municipios, en los que habita el 65.9% de
la población nacional, según datos del Gobierno Federal (DOF, 2020), por lo
que no todas las poblaciones tienen la oportunidad de conocerlos y entender
cómo están constituidos y mucho menos definidos.
Hay mucho trabajo que hacer para volverlos un espacio incluyente aún, ya
que la desigualdad social es un grave problema que con la crisis sanitaria se
ha hecho más evidente, pues en 2018 se sabía que 74.3 millones de personas
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usaban Internet, es decir, 65.8% de la población del país, que puede bien estar
relacionada con las poblaciones y los municipios antes mencionados, pero
que dejan de lado a casi la mitad de los mexicanos sin acceso a servicios y a
programas educativos o culturales en este momento.
Referencias
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Garduño, A. (2015, junio 11). Morfologías expositivas. Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes:
1934-2014. Recuperado el 1 de noviembre de 2020 de https://piso9.net/
morfologias-expositivas-museo-del-palacio-de-bellas-artes-1934-2014-2/
INAH. (2020). Museo Nacional de Historia Castillo de Chapultepec. Recuperado
el 1 de noviembre de 2020 de https://mnh.inah.gob.mx/quienes-somos
Museos Comunitarios de América. (2020). ¿Qué es un museo comunitario?
Recuperado el 20 de 1 de noviembre de 2020 de https://www.museos-
comunitarios.org/que-es
Museo Anahuacalli. (2020). ¿Qué es la Ciudad de las Artes? Recuperado el 1
de noviembre de 2020 de http://museoanahuacalli.org.mx/ciudad-de-
las-artes/que-es/
Medina González, C. (1991). Una Ciudad Ideal. México: UNAM.
Miranda, D. (2015). La disonancia de El Eco. México: UNAM.
Morales Moreno, L. G. (1994). Orígenes de la museología mexicana. Fuentes para
el estudio histórico del Museo Nacional, 1780-1940. México: UIA.
Político MX. (2018, septiembre 24). Palacio, castillo y residencia: casas de presidentes
en 2 siglos. Recuperado el 1 de noviembre de 2020 de https://politico.mx/
minuta-politica/minuta-politica-gobierno-federal/palacio-castillo-y-re-
sidencia-casas-de-presidentes-en-2-siglos/
RAE. (2020, julio 4). Real Academia Española. Recuperado el 1 de noviembre de
2020 de https://dle.rae.es/definición.
Sánchez García, V., & Herrera Guevara, M. (2014). La institucionalización del
museo y de su especial legislación en México. Revista Jurídica Jalisciense,
50, 231-260.
Secretaría de Cultura. (2020). Programa Sectorial derivado del Plan Nacional de
Desarrollo 2020-2024. México: Secretaria de Cultura.
SEDEMA. (2019). Secretaria del Medio Ambiente CDMX. Recuperado el 2020, de
Museo de Historia Natural y Cultura Ambiental: http://data.sedema.
cdmx.gob.mx/museodehistorianatural/index.php/quienes-somos/fun-
cion-del-mhnca
Vázquez Olvera, C. (2008). La participación infantil como motor del origen y
desarrollo de los museos escolares. Cuiculco, 15 (44), 111-134.
Zavala, L. (2012). Antimanual del Museólogo. Hacia una museología de la vida coti-
diana. México, México: INAH/UAM.
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Articles • Définir une juste ambition pour les professionnels [...]
Définir une
juste ambition
pour les
professionnels
et une identité
pour l’ICOM
Emilie Girard
Mucem - Marseille, France
Résumé
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Abstract
The successive ICOM definitions have so far all emphasized the pro-
fessional nature of the organization by describing the fundamental
missions of museums, while claiming its social role. The debate that
occurred in Kyoto raised the question of the place left to these mis-
sions with a strong militancy and a declaration of humanist values.
Should one prevail over the other? If the definition makes it possible
to define a common base for museum professionals, it may especially
play a fundamental role in the identity of ICOM and the nature of the
association.
*
JE PRENDS L’ENGAGEMENT SOLENNEL
de consacrer ma vie au service de l’humanité ;
JE CONSIDÉRERAI la santé et le bien-être de mon patient comme ma priorité ;
JE RESPECTERAI l’autonomie et la dignité de mon patient ;
JE VEILLERAI au respect absolu de la vie humaine ;
JE NE PERMETTRAI PAS que des considérations d’âge, de maladie ou d’infirmité,
de croyance, d’origine ethnique, de genre, de nationalité, d’affiliation politique,
de race, d’orientation sexuelle, de statut social ou tout autre facteur s’interposent
entre mon devoir et mon patient […]
Déclaration de Genève
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”
En 1960, lors du premier remaniement de la définition, le cœur de métier se
précise :
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Articles • Définir une juste ambition pour les professionnels [...]
”
En 1974, ces missions sont reprises, légèrement synthétisées, et la définition
affirme que le musée « […] fait des recherches concernant les témoins maté-
riels de l’homme et de son environnement, acquiert ceux-là, les conserve, les
communique et notamment les expose à des fins d’études, d’éducation et de
délectation. » (ICOM, n.d.)
On soulignera l’apparition de la notion de recherche posée comme une des
missions fondamentales des musées, et les objectifs d’éducation et de délecta-
tion. La définition de 2007 ne s’éloigne encore pas vraiment de celle de 1974 du
point de vue des missions du musée, puisque le musée « […] acquiert, conserve,
étudie, expose et transmet le patrimoine matériel et immatériel de l’humanité
et de son environnement à des fins d’étude, d’éducation et de délectation. »
(ICOM, n.d.)
Seule la notion de transmission vient remplacer celle de communication, et
l’étude celle de recherche. On notera que c’est au même moment qu’est retirée
la liste des institutions reconnues par l’ICOM qui comprenait neuf catégories
et qui servait de guide pour les comités, aidant à l’acceptation ou non des
membres sans marge d’interprétation trop vaste (Mairesse, 2020). Faut-il voir
la raison du doublement du nombre de membres, qui passe de 20 000 en 2006
à plus de 40 000 en 2017 ?
Le projet de définition proposé à Kyoto n’efface évidemment pas la spécificité
professionnelle. Les termes « artefacts et spécimens » et « patrimoine », les
missions de collecte ou d’enrichissement des collections, d’étude, de préserva-
tion, d’interprétation, d’exposition mentionnés dans le texte sont les espaces
d’expression de la spécificité des musées. La notion de recherche ou d’étude
s’efface cependant.
Les membres de l’ICOM semblent continuer à être attachés à ces grandes
missions constitutives de la fonction et de la nature des musées. A la suite de
la publication du rapport du MDPP, en début d’année 2019, l’ICOM avait lancé
une grande campagne de collecte de propositions de définitions du musée.
A la clôture de cette campagne fin juin 2019, on comptait 269 propositions,
rédigées dans 25 langues (toutes traduites en anglais par les rédacteurs ou via
Googletrad) et émanant de 69 pays. ICOM France s’était alors prêté à une
analyse de ces propositions et des termes employés, afin de voir s’il était pos-
sible de dégager des grandes tendances et en quoi la définition proposée au
vote à l’Assemblée générale extraordinaire de Kyoto le 7 septembre 2019 était
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Articles • Définir une juste ambition pour les professionnels [...]
”
Il semble donc toujours et encore indispensable pour les membres d’affirmer
avec force ce qui relève des métiers des musées, et de ne pas estomper la mis-
sion professionnelle qu’ils assument, ce qui n’est pas sans poser question au vu
de la multiplication de l’attribution du terme « musée » à des établissements,
notamment reconnus par ICOM, où ces missions ne sont pas nécessairement
réalisées.
Pour les lexicologues, une définition doit statuer sur ce qu’est la chose définie,
en exprimant clairement et avec brièveté ce qui fait sa « différence spéci-
fique » (Chiss, 2020). Au regard des définitions successives, on voit comment ce
caractère spécifique semble résider dans les grandes missions de recherche, de
conservation et de communication du patrimoine. D’aucun pourront objecter
que les actions qui reviennent dans les propositions des membres (« collec-
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Articles • Définir une juste ambition pour les professionnels [...]
”
La définition des musées donnée par l’ICOM est la base sur laquelle chaque
comité s’appuie pour accepter ou non les demandes d’adhésion et définir qui
peut être membre d’ICOM et qui ne le peut pas. L’article 3 des statuts précise que
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Articles • Définir une juste ambition pour les professionnels [...]
”
La définition des musées assure donc avant tout une mission pratique, celle
d’être un outil permettant de définir des critères d’adhésion et ainsi assoir la
nature de l’ICOM et confirmer (ou non) son rôle d’association professionnelle
où les questions d’éthique jouent un rôle majeur.
« Table : Meuble composé d’un plateau horizontal reposant sur un ou plusieurs
pieds ou supports ». C’est ainsi que le dictionnaire Larousse définit en fran-
çais l’ensemble des types de tables possibles, qu’elles soient basses ou hautes,
tripodes ou quadripodes. On admet généralement que si une définition doit
présenter ce qui fait la différence spécifique d’une chose, elle doit également
ne pas exclure par trop de qualificatifs ou de données d’objectifs. On ne pré-
cisera ainsi pas les usages possibles d’une table, si elle doit servir à manger,
ce qui laisserait de côté les tables à jeu, à langer, d’opération, etc… Doit-il en
être de même pour la définition des musées de l’ICOM ? Peut-on et doit-on
se contenter d’un énoncé de missions professionnelles et s’en tenir à une neu-
tralité terminologique ? Certainement pas, tant l’engagement déontologique
de l’ICOM marque son identité. La définition a toujours défendu des valeurs,
celles liées à l’engagement social des musées, qualifiées dans la définition de
1960 d’établissement d’« intérêt général », puis établies comme étant « au
service de la société et de son développement ».
Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien : c’est sans doute là le défaut majeur de la propo-
sition de 2019 qui priorise les principes d’ouverture et de participation, affirme
l’ancrage social des musées, revient sur ses missions professionnelles (et de fait
les relègue au second plan) et se termine par un arsenal de valeurs humanistes,
Le projet dépasse la seule affirmation de valeurs pour s’engager dans une forme
de militantisme très identifiée où la mission sociale prime sur les fonctions
professionnelles de conservation, recherche et communication (Mairesse, 2020).
A une époque où la pluridisciplinarité, voire l’interdisciplinarité est de plus en
plus revendiquée, les frontières entre musées de beaux-arts, musées d’histoire
ou musées de société sont de moins en moins nettes et peut-être même de
moins en moins légitimes. Cependant, les termes employés dans la définition
ne peuvent pas être trop marqués par des courants muséologiques propres à
certaines familles de musées, car la définition doit pouvoir être reconnue et
endossée sans réserve par l’ensemble des musées, qu’elle que soit leur nature ou
leur positionnement géographique. Prenons l’exemple des réactions au terme
choisi de « polyphonie ». Si la démocratisation des pratiques culturelles est
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neutralité raisonnable qui lui permette d’être acceptable et acceptée par tous.
Sans cela, le risque existe de voir certains professionnels quitter l’ICOM s’ils
ne s’y reconnaissent plus, s’ils s’y sentent étrangers.
Certes, il ne faut pas donner à cette définition plus d’importance qu’elle n’en
a : quoi qu’elle devienne, elle n’empêchera pas les professionnels des musées
de faire leur métier comme ils l’entendent, en fonction des contextes dans les-
quels ils évoluent et des valeurs auxquels ils croient. C’est d’abord la question
de l’identité de l’ICOM qui est en jeu. Brouiller la lecture des missions des
musées dans des ambitions militantes, c’est prendre le virage d’une transfor-
mation fondamentale de l’ICOM en quelque chose de radicalement différent.
Car l’enjeu majeur est sans doute là : souhaitons-nous que l’ICOM reste fidèle
aux principes de sa fondation et demeure une association de professionnels
de musées ? Ce n’est pas rester entravé dans des siècles d’histoire des musées
et de contextes dépassés que de réaffirmer leur caractère spécifique, leurs
« invariants », pour reprendre un terme cher à l’anthropologie, si c’est là ce qui
unit les membres de l’ICOM et ce en quoi ils se reconnaissent une d’identité
partagée. La colonne vertébrale de l’ICOM doit pouvoir s’appuyer sur ses deux
jambes pour tenir l’équilibre : d’une part ses missions métiers fondamentales,
de l’autre son rôle social. Et veiller à cet équilibre, dans la période de crise que
l’ICOM traverse, est une absolue nécessitée.
Références
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Hacia un museo
ecosistémico
José Jiménez
Yaku Parque Museo Del Agua - Quito, Ecuador
Resumen
Abstract
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*
Del Antropoceno al siglo XXI
Para explicar al Antropoceno como una construcción cultural, primero debe-
mos entender que la tierra está en un constante cambio geográfico, acelerado
por la huella ambiental del ser humano y sus rutinas sociales de consecuen-
cias climatológicas. Los orígenes del Antropoceno, como una capa geológica,
se dan debido a la influencia de la revolución industrial de finales del siglo
XVIII, donde el desarrollo de las fuerzas productivas establece sectores laborales
diversos que se ven potenciados por el uso de combustibles para maquinarias.
La huella del ser humano conlleva efectos adversos en un debate más allá de
las ciencias naturales, Trischler (2017) rastrea su etimología y debate su uso:
”
La amplia divulgación del concepto Antropoceno lo diversifica en ramas de
pensamiento de la misma manera que avanza un modelo de economía pos-
fordiana1, promovido en el uso evolutivo de tecnologías de la información,
diversificando el consumo en productos y servicios. Entendemos el Antropoceno
1. Un modelo de mercado donde la producción fordista es superada por una la línea de ensamblaje
internacional que prioriza mercados flexibles.
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2. En este término quiero abarcar las presiones patriarcales sobre la mercantilización del pudor
como imagen de consumo, frontispicio de los efectos adversos de una sociedad de consumo desme-
dido: una aproximación epicureísta en el placer para desvanecer el trasfondo que implica.
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los sesenta hasta los años ochenta y millenials nacidos después de la caída del
muro de Berlín, confiere una etapa que enaltece el pasado próximo debido a
la precariedad que afrontan, dentro del contexto latinoamericano las décadas
de agenciamientos políticos irrelevantes a la realidad de cada país fomentó la
frágil imagen de estabilidad social cimentada sobre la base del extractivismo,
la individualidad y el acaparamiento de bienes donde nos vemos inmersos.
Los museos militares, históricos o aquellos de grandes colecciones tienden a la
representación de un pasado monumental, desde la construcción museográfica
de sus pedestales y dioramas hasta las fichas de texto, este tesauro construye
un nivel narrativo que, cuando es heredado, torna a la dialéctica del museo en
cíclica. Síntoma de esto es la sensación de silencio que perdura en los museos,
sus pasillos y colecciones. Los perímetros museográficos, por tanto, deben ser
actualizados, pues su relevancia debe conferir igual valor a los discursos indivi-
duales, tratando de ampliar la narración de un período o contenido específico.
Debemos comprender que las colecciones pierden valor si el público no se lo
da; en este sentido el valor simbólico parte desde las personas y su puesta en
escena lo certifica.
Definimos el museo no como un lugar de aprendizaje, sino como un espacio
de revaloración de contenidos, donde la historia es leída desde varias voces y
que responde a los períodos en los que se inserta. A través de las exposiciones
el público comprende la importancia de una pieza u objeto debido al valor
simbólico que desde el mismo refleja. Repetto Málaga (2006) menciona que
la capacidad de almacenar conocimiento cobra sentido cuando se transmite a
otra persona. El visitante mantiene o desecha la información sobre la base de
un anclaje cultural, es decir, el individuo implementa lo que es relevante según
su propio criterio; de ahí la importancia de mediar contenidos en sala, para
generar una experiencia sobre estos y, además, dar lugar a otras reflexiones.
Si centramos nuestra atención en la pieza u objeto, terminaremos generando
una lectura ajena, elementos del folclor que percibe a las culturas populares
de manera romántica, aún cuando la universidad apoya a una comunidad, hay
una escala de valor sobre el capital intelectual, de esta forma el valor de un
objeto está relacionado a su contexto, García Canclini (1989) perfila el folclor
es una lectura moderna sobre las culturas populares el esfuerzo de entender al
otro se vuelve una traducción unilateral.
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”
Quizá esta es una realidad más próxima a los museos arqueológicos o de ciencias
naturales, pero el peso innegable del entorno extiende o acorta los aprendizajes
y contenidos. El tiempo mediatizado ha sufrido una fractura desde la extensión
de la cuarentena asociada al COVID-19. A pesar de la interacción digital, al
ansiar otros entornos, todo parece ralentizarse. Los museos del mundo han
reaccionado de diversas maneras, tratando de acompañar en el contexto de
estrés emocional presente del ambiente.
La identidad personal, la construcción del tiempo y nuestro sistema de valores
entran en diálogo en el museo gracias a su andamiaje cultural (Ríos, 1997) y
esto supone conducir al visitante a percibir los contenidos desde su propia
personalidad para construir nuevas posibilidades ante ello. Lejos de la reaper-
tura de los museos, la museología no se clausura, la comunicación busca el
apoyo de todas las áreas, la mediación construye una intervención relacional
y un plan a largo plazo, acompañando a su público desde medios digitales
mayormente. El peso emocional supone para la identidad una melancolía que
produce la construcción en crisis, recurso creativo en la literatura y música,
como Chaman (2015) indica. Como ejemplo de ello, hay yaravíes, albazos y
pasillos en la música andina. Nuestros espacios, ante la emergencia, replantean
sus roles para el visitante.
El museo puede desarrollar resiliencia como Becoña Iglesias (2006) discierne
desde la psicología. Cuando el tiempo transcurre de otra manera, nos vincu-
lamos tratando de construir confianza por medio de experiencias afectivas
que desarrollen el pensamiento en el núcleo social del público, para afrontar
esta información hay que integrar la oralidad y la memoria, construyendo
nuevos propósitos para el espacio que ocupa el visitante y su interacción; este
acompañamiento a lo externo sostiene al público y su vínculo con el museo.
Proponemos una construcción horizontal como las estrategias educomunica-
cionales de Yaku (Alvarez, Arce, Jimenez, Landazuri & Mosquera, 2019) que
despliegue a lo interno un desarrollo diversificado de los proyectos en todas
las áreas. Para deconstruir un ensamblaje fordiano y el formato en línea de
validación, estas dinámicas rizomáticas o una imagen de pensamiento figura
que sostiene Deleuze (en Silva Rojas, Maldonado Serrano & Palencia Silva,
2020) son la enunciación personal de cada miembro del equipo, razones desde
las cuales disparar aristas hacia otras áreas, para enlazar al equipo optimizando
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3. Los medios de producción y la calidad del contenido podrían ser revisados desde autores como
Max Horkheimer con su Crítica de la razón instrumental y Walter Benjamin con La obra de arte en la
época de su reproductibilidad técnica.
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”
La educación no formal maneja el conocimiento poniéndolo a prueba en
entornos ajenos a su origen. La experiencia museográfica pone en otro ritmo
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Définir le musée
à travers le
monde
François Mairesse
Sorbonne nouvelle - Paris 3, CERLIS, CNRS,
Labex ICCA - Paris, France
Olivia Guiragossian
Sorbonne nouvelle - Paris 3, CERLIS, CNRS -
Paris, France
Résumé
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Abstract
*
Les débats passionnés autour de la nouvelle proposition de définition du musée
par l’ICOM, discutée en 2019 à Kyoto (Maczek, 2019), ont partiellement obli-
téré le travail de fond mené depuis plusieurs années autour de l’évolution du
phénomène muséal à travers le monde et des manières parfois différentes de le
définir. L’ICOFOM a largement contribué à ces réflexions, en organisant à ce
sujet une dizaine de symposiums et de journées d’étude à travers le monde et en
publiant plusieurs monographies sur le sujet (Brulon Soares, Brown & Nazor,
2018, Chung, Leshchenko & Brulon Soares, 2019, Mairesse, 2017). Ce travail a
fait l’objet d’une première analyse évoquant notamment le renforcement du
rôle social des musées ces dernières années (Brown & Mairesse, 2018). Souhai-
tant s’appuyer sur un processus participatif (Sandahl, 2019), le comité chargé
de la réflexion autour de la définition du musée (Museum Definition, Prospects
and Potentials ou MDPP), présidé par Jette Sandahl, a constitué deux bases de
données. La première de celles-ci, pilotée par Lauran Bonilla-Merchav, est issue
des verbatims d’une quarantaine de tables-rondes organisées par les comités
nationaux et internationaux de l’ICOM autour de la définition, regroupant
près de 900 participants (Bonilla-Merchav, 2019), mais elle n’a pas été rendue
publique. La seconde, mise en place par l’ICOM à partir de son site Internet
dans le courant du premier semestre de 2019, est le fruit d’une invitation
faite à ses membres, ses comités, ses partenaires et toutes les autres personnes
intéressées à participer, d’imaginer la nouvelle définition du musée. Au terme
de cette démarche, 269 définitions ont été suggérées, disponibles sur le site
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Méthode d’analyse
L’analyse présentée dans cet article se fonde sur l’exploitation du logiciel Sphinx,
spécialisé dans l’analyse de données textuelles (Boughzala, Moscarola, & Hervé,
2014). Elle a bénéficié des conseils et de l’aide de Jean Moscarola (2018).
1. « Création de la nouvelle définition du musée : plus de 250 propositions à découvrir ! », Actuali-
tés de l’ICOM, mis en ligne le 1er avril 2019. Consulté le 1 juin 2020 sur : https://icom.museum/fr/news/
la-definition-du-musee-colonne-vertebrale-de-licom/
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% % % % %
Afrique 26 9,7 19 27,9 38 27,5 1,6 1.4
& Etats
Arabes
Asie 32 11,9 9 13,2 25 18,1 4,8 12.9
Pacifique
Europe 119 44,2 26 38,2 49 35,5 83,1 40.1
Amé- 68 25, 12 17,6 24 17,4 4 8.3
rique 3
Latine
Amé- 24 8,9 2 2,9 2 1,4 6,5 37.3
rique du
Nord
269 100 68 100 138 100 100 100
2. Source : documents fournis lors de la réunion du Conseil consultatif de l’ICOM, 85ème session,
point 3.2 (rapport annuel sur les adhésions à l’ICOM pour 2018). Nous remercions M. Granjon et le
secrétariat de l’ICOM pour ces données.
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Les 25 noms communs les plus utilisés Les 25 verbes les plus utilisés
Museum 200 People 45 Communicate 52 Learn 17
Institution 118 Memory 37 Preserve 45 Understand 17
Heritage 79 Object 35 Conserve 44 Protect 16
Space 62 Development 33 Acquire 41 Give 14
Community 60 World 33 Exhibit 37 Disseminate 14
Place 52 Study 34 Collect 33 Base 13
E n v i r o n - 57 Experience 29 Create 29 Represent 12
ment
52 Purpose 32 Research 30 Aim 12
Knowledge
53 Value 29 Open 29 Allow 10
Public
40 Education 31 Promote 26 Interpret 12
Culture
50 Exhibition 27 Must 15 Transmit 12
Research
48 Way 58 Provide 18 Generate 8
Society
39 Share 18
Collection
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L’analyse des termes utilisés pour définir le musée montre l’utilisation d’un
vocabulaire commun, mais aussi, en fonction des mots ou expressions surrepré-
sentés dans certaines zones, le développement de spécificités régionales (Fig.
1). Le vocabulaire exploité à travers toutes les régions (lequel permettrait de
développer une définition assez consensuelle du musée) comprend, sans sur-
prise, des termes comme ‘musée’, ‘institution’, ‘culturel’, ‘patrimoine’, ‘social’ ou
‘recherche’. Les verbes les plus utilisés sont liés aux fonctions muséales : ‘commu-
niquer’, ‘préserver’, ‘conserver’, ‘acquérir’, ‘exposer’, etc. Dans cette perspective, le
musée peut être vu comme un lieu institutionnel et culturel, à vocation sociale,
mais centré autour de l’étude (et de la préservation, le terme apparaît un peu
plus loin) du patrimoine. Les mots que l’on retrouve plus spécifiquement en
Europe – ‘public’, ‘patrimoine’, ‘lieu’ (place), ‘société’ – présentent une vision
qui n’est pas sans rappeler les définitions élaborées par l’ICOM à l’époque de
Georges Henri Rivière (1989) : une institution au service de la société, ouverte
au public. Les mots utilisés plus spécifiquement en Amérique du Nord, d’une
part, et dans les pays arabes et africains, semblent offrir une vision tout aussi
classique de l’institution : ‘objet’, ‘environnement’, ‘culture’ et ‘expérience’ sont
les éléments qui reviennent le plus régulièrement en Amérique du Nord, tandis
que les pays arabes et africains reprennent les termes ‘institution’, ‘culturel’,
‘communauté’, ‘préserver’ et ‘patrimoine’.
3. Les termes figurant sur cette figure sont surreprésentés au sens du chi2 dans les définitions
provenant de la région concernée
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retrouve, dans la première région, les termes ‘peuple’ (people) – plutôt que
‘public’, plus abstrait –, ‘matériel’ et ‘immatériel’. L’importance attachée au
double caractère du patrimoine constitue une caractéristique des pays de ces
régions, à qui l’on doit largement la promotion de la Convention de l’UNESCO
sur le patrimoine culturel immatériel (2003). Mais c’est sans doute au niveau de
l’Amérique latine que les différences apparaissent de la manière la plus frap-
pante : les termes directement associés à cette région sont : ‘culturel’, ‘social’,
‘espace’ et ‘mémoire’. Ils donnent d’emblée au musée une vision nettement plus
ouverte que ce qui est envisagé en Europe.
En se fondant sur une analyse des correspondances, effectuée à partir des mots
utilisés dans les définitions, on retrouve cet écart significatif entre l’Amérique
latine et les autres régions (Fig. 2)
Fig. 2. Carte des correspondances à partir des mots du corpus (les deux axes résument
71,7% de l’information, dont 50% pour l’axe horizontal).
Selon ces données, la manière de penser le musée apparaît relativement simi-
laire entre l’Europe, l’Amérique du Nord, les régions d’Asie-Pacifique et les
Etats africains et arabes. Les expressions les plus classiques y sont rassemblées,
notamment celle de ‘société et de son développement’, de ‘patrimoine de l’hu-
manité’, de ‘matériel’ et ‘immatériel’, d’‘institution’, etc. Les termes les plus
directement associés à l’Amérique latine sont en revanche résolument diffé-
rents : on y retrouve ceux de ‘mémoire’, d’‘expérience’, de ‘valeur’ et de ‘virtuel’.
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Ces catégories – qualifiées en fonction des mots qui leurs sont associés – sont
les suivantes :
1. Le musée classique (28,5% de l’échantillon) regroupe des définitions com-
prenant les mots : ‘culturel’, ‘humain’, ‘lieu’ (place), ‘peuple’ (people). Il est assez
rapidement associé à des termes comme ‘communauté’, ‘objet’, ‘société’, ‘connais-
sance’ (il est indiqué par les termes Museum, Human, Place sur la Fig. 3).
2. Le musée communautaire (27,7%) intègre des définitions légèrement dif-
férentes, mettant un peu plus l’accent sur des aspects communautaires. Les
termes les plus cités sont ‘espace’, ‘communauté’, ‘institution’ et ‘culturel’ (il
est indiqué par les termes Space, Community sur la Fig. 3).
3. Le musée-exposition (26,4%) présente un profil regroupant un plus grand
nombre de termes liés aux fonctions du musée, notamment l’exposition, mais
aussi institutionnels. Les termes les plus cités sont ‘institution’, ‘public’, ‘sans
but lucratif’ (non-profit) (il est indiqué par les termes Institution, Public, Exhibit
sur la Fig. 3).
4. Le musée social (17,4%) est une catégorie un peu plus limitée, mettant en
avant une logique ancrée autour de la société. Les termes les plus utilisés sont
‘culturel’, ‘social’, ‘institution’, ‘patrimoine’, ‘public’ (iI est indiqué par les termes
Cultural, Social sur la Fig. 3).
La figure 3 présente, à partir d’une analyse des correspondances, la distance
entre les différents mots utilisés dans les définitions et les quatre types de
musées proposés. On notera d’emblée la proximité entre les deux premiers
groupes (classique et communautaire), qui partagent un grand nombre de
mots, comme ‘espace’, ‘présentation’, ‘peuple’, ‘visiteur’, etc. Ces deux premiers
groupes se distinguent assez largement des deux autres.
Fig. 3. Carte des correspondances des quatre groupes en fonction des termes du corpus
(les deux axes résument 76,8% de l’information, dont 44,2% pour l’axe horizontal).
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Le troisième groupe, plus technique, utilise des termes comme ‘but’, ‘organisa-
tion’, ‘fonction’, ‘atout’ (asset), mais est également proche de la fonction d’expo-
sition (exposer, exposition, interprétation). C’est par ailleurs à ce groupe qu’est
rattaché le terme ‘muséologique’. Le quatrième groupe – le musée social – est
proche de termes partiellement liés à des principes de recherche (‘recherche’
et ‘étude’), mais aussi à des valeurs faisant appel aux notions d’accessibilité,
d’engagement, de service ou de développement durable.
Ces quatre catégories se retrouvent à travers toutes les régions, mais certaines
d’entre elles sont nettement plus représentées dans l’une ou l’autre zone géo-
graphique (Tab. 4 et Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Carte des correspondances des quatre groupes en fonction des régions (les deux axes résument 94,8%
de l’information, dont 76,5% pour l’axe horizontal).
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Discussion
Il convient d’une part de revenir sur la base de données elle-même, ne présen-
tant pas toutes les garanties de représentativité et pour laquelle nous disposons
de peu d’informations quant à la nature des contributeurs. Nous savons en
revanche que les propositions qui en résultent sont issues des différentes régions
du globe. De telles données sont assez rares, la plupart des analyses portant
essentiellement sur une ou deux régions déterminées. On peut bien sûr regretter
le manque de contributions dans certaines régions du globe (notamment en
Amérique du Nord) : la diversité muséale de ces régions en ressort sans doute
amenuisée. Les réponses provenant d’Amérique du Nord semblent présenter
une image assez similaire à celles de l’Europe – sauf pour ce qui concerne
le rapport au communautaire, qui y semble plus marqué, et, curieusement,
l’absence de lien avec le musée social. Dans une telle perspective, les quatre
groupes de définitions, suggérés par le logiciel, ne peuvent être pris au pied
de la lettre, comme une nouvelle typologie muséale stricto-sensu. En revanche,
ils permettent d’objectiver l’existence de différences de perception du musée
à travers le monde – et à l’intérieur d’une même région. De telles différences
n’apparaissent, par ailleurs, pas anecdotiques.
On remarquera, dans un premier temps, l’apparition d’un vocabulaire com-
mun qui se dessine à travers les occurrences les plus souvent usitées dans le
corpus. Sans surprises, elles dessinent les contours d’un musée assez classique
– on songe à la définition de l’ICOM de 2007 – avec des noms comme ‘institu-
tion’, ‘patrimoine’, ‘environnement’, ‘patrimoine’, ‘public’, ‘culture’, ‘recherche’,
‘société’, ‘collection’, et des verbes comme ‘communiquer’, ‘préserver’, ‘conserver’,
‘acquérir’, ‘exposer’, ‘collectionner’, ‘créer’, ‘rechercher’. Il n’est pas inintéressant
de noter, en revanche, l’importance de certains mots, comme ‘communauté’
ou l’adjectif ‘social’, qui n’apparaissent pas dans les définitions actuelles, mais
sont néanmoins utilisés dans un grand nombre de définitions.
Deux des catégories – celles présentées ici comme le musée classique et le musée
communautaire – sont parfois difficile à distinguer l’une de l’autre. Les deux
autres catégories semblent présenter une image singulière, particulièrement
intéressante à analyser.
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Paris 8 6 6 12 7 39
Buenos 1 3 4
Aires
Rio de 1 8 1 10
Janeiro
St 1 2 3 3 9
Andrews
Total 8 8 9 26 11 62
Tab. 5. Propositions de changements suggérées, d’après Brown & Mairesse 2018
Une telle tendance, à nouveau, n’est pas récente. L’histoire du rôle social du
musée est ancienne, se renforçant notamment au gré des crises économiques
(Capart, 1930). La fin de la première décennie des années 2000, marquée par la
crise des subprimes, a ainsi donné lieu à un grand nombre de publications portant
sur la manière dont le musée organise sa fonction sociale (Silverman, 2010),
mais aussi sur les façons de développer ce rôle afin de s’adapter, dans les années
à venir, aux changements de société (Black, 2010 ; Museums association, 2012).
Ce phénomène est très largement mondial, mais il semble avoir trouvé un
terreau particulièrement fertile en Amérique latine, où les dimensions sociale
et politique du musée sont très présentes depuis la Déclaration de Santiago du
Chili (Teruggi, 1973). Ce que semblent illustrer les résultats, dans ce contexte,
est l’émergence d’une forme originale de pensée du musée, très fortement
implantée en Amérique latine. Cette hypothèse est largement corroborée par
l’activité très importante du monde muséal en Amérique latine (Castilla, 2010),
notamment sur le plan théorique, comme on peut le voir à travers l’activité
déployée par le sous-comité pour la muséologie œuvrant en Amérique latine
(ICOFOM LAM) depuis un quart de siècle. Une pensée originale s’est déployée
sur le continent latino-américain, dans le sillage de penseurs comme Paulo
Freire (1992), très engagés sur le plan social, et à travers les écrits d’auteurs
comme Waldisa Rússio, Felipe Lacouture, Norma Rusconi, Teresa Scheiner,
etc. (Escudero, 2019). Plusieurs de ces auteurs se sont insurgés contre une cer-
taine hégémonie de la pensée muséologique globale, dominée par les langues
des anciens empires (anglais, français) (Brulon Soares & Leshchenko, 2018 ;
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Conclusions
Bien qu’elle nécessite une certaine prudence dans l’interprétation des résultats,
la base de données formée par les 269 propositions issues de la consultation des
membres de l’ICOM en matière de définition du musée, constitue un terrain
d’analyse particulièrement intéressant.
Dès les premières analyses en effet, une région du globe semble émerger pour
présenter une vision originale et partiellement différente du musée : l’Amé-
rique latine. Il existe certes un vocabulaire commun utilisé dans la plupart des
définitions, que l’on retrouve un peu partout à travers le monde (et qui n’est
pas sans rappeler plusieurs des termes utilisés dans la définition de 2007), mais
une certaine vision du musée, essentiellement centrée sur sa dimension sociale,
semble émerger à travers l’utilisation de certains mots, de même qu’à travers
la typologie calculée par le logiciel Sphinx. Si l’on examine en effet les quatre
catégories – identifiées ici comme le musée classique, le musée communautaire,
le musée-exposition et le musée social – celle qui se distingue de la manière la
plus nette est en effet liée à des notions liées au rôle social du musée. On ne
peut manquer de relier ces résultats et l’émergence, depuis quelques dizaines
d’années, et avec une plus grande intensité ces dernières années, de la pensée
muséologique latino-américaine contemporaine. Les idées qui y sont débat-
tues, largement fondées autour de questions politiques et sociales, semblent
corroborer cette analyse.
Il n’empêche, bien sûr, que ces premiers résultats devraient pouvoir être affinés
par la constitution d’une base de données mieux étayée, établie de manière à
renforcer la représentativité des résultats, tout en comportant par ailleurs plus
d’informations sur les auteurs des définitions – qui n’ont ici pu faire l’objet
d’une quelconque analyse. Quoi qu’il en soit, les méthodes utilisées dans cet
article semblent augurer de résultats prometteurs en matière d’analyse de la
pensée muséologique et de la façon dont elle se développe à travers le monde.
Références
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Boughzala, Y., Moscarola, J., & Hervé, M. (2014). Sphinx Quali : un nouvel outil
d’analyse de données textuelle et sémantique. Nice : Actes Journées Analyse
de Données Textuelles.
Brown, K., & Mairesse, F. (2018). The definition of the museum through its
social role, Curator: The museums journal, 61, 4, July, 525-539.
Brulon Soares B., & Leshchenko, A. (2018). Museology in Colonial Context: A
call for Decolonisation of Museum Theory, Icofom Study Series, 46, 61-79.
Brulon Soares, B., Brown, K., & Nazor, O. (Ed.) (2018). Defining Museums of the
21st century: plural experiences. Paris : ICOFOM.
Capart, J. (1930). Le rôle social des musées, Mouseion, 12, 219-238.
Castilla, A. (Ed.). (2010). El museo en escena. Politica y cultura en América Latina.
Buenos Aires : Paidos & Typa.
Chung, Y. S. S., Leshchenko, A., & Brulon Soares, B. (2019). Defining the Museum
of the 21st Century. Evolving Multiculturalism in Museums in the United States.
Paris: ICOFOM/ICOM.
Davallon, J. (1992). Le musée est-il un média ?. Public & Musées, 2, déc., 99-123.
Disponible sur : https://www.lesphinx-developpement.fr/wp-media/
uploads/2020/01/SphinxQuali_YB_JM_MH_JADT2014.pdf
Escudero, S. (Ed.) (2019). Teoria museologica latinoamericana: Protohistoria. Paris:
ICOM/ ICOFOM/ ICOFOM LAM.
Freire, P. (1992). Pedagogia da esperança: um reencontro com a pedagogia do oprimido.
Rio de Janeiro : Paz e Terra.
Girard, E. (2019). Proposition de la nouvelle définition du « musée » - analyse de la
provenance des termes utilisés. Site Internet d’ICOM France/ Actualités.
Retrouvé à partir de d’ICOM France : https://www.icom-musees.fr/
index.php/actualites/proposition-de-la-nouvelle-definition-du-musee
(06/2020).
Gómez Martínez, J. (2006). Dos museologias. Las tradiciones anglosajona y medi-
terranea : diferencia y contactos. Gijon : Trea.
IBRAM - Instituto Brasileiro de Museus, Organisação dos Estados Ibero-Ame-
ricanos. (2016). Memory Spots. Methodology and Practices in Social Museology.
Brasília: IBRAM.
Jacobson, C. (2014). New Museums in China. New York: Princeton Architectural
Press.
Ji, Y.H. (2018). La numérisation du patrimoine culturel au sein des musées coréens :
une approche de la médiation numérique des institutions muséales. Thèse
soutenue le 15 janvier à l’Université Sorbonne-nouvelle Paris 3.
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Articles • Is it Possible to Tie Down a Universal Museum Definition?
Is it Possible
to Tie Down
a Universal
Museum
Definition?
Lynn Maranda
Curator Emerita, Museum of Vancouver -
Vancouver, Canada
Abstract
Museums are known worldwide and even though they are a Western
construct, similar facilities can be found everywhere. There is a cachet
to having a museum in one’s community where it becomes a source
of collective pride. Nevertheless, museums serve not one, but many
communities and the question is whether that fact can be encapsu-
lated in a definition which reflects the total community ethos and the
many voices of its stakeholders. Minority and indigenous populations
in particular are demanding their voices be heard and this has posed a
problem for the creation of a museum definition. In the end, an inclu-
sive, meaningful definition may not be readily found.
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Résumé
*
Prologue
For those in the field, defining the museum has been a popular activity for
decades. Why is this the case? What is the purpose of such activity? For whom
or for which entity is this necessary? Do museum “insiders” feel this is so
important that their future in this realm is determined by achieving such a
goal? Are they so unsure of what they are doing that they have to seek valida-
tion by such means? Is there an essential need to lay bare their ongoing raison
d’être through this activity? Or do they just wish to communicate what they
believe they really are?
Museums are a Western construct which, as they currently exist, evolved in
the late Renaissance (16th century) from those “cabinets of curiosities” which
the gentry kept to show off to and impress their friends and acquaintances
or to enliven their social gatherings. The museum concept and edifice then
grew out of these humble beginnings and began to evolve in the 18th and
19th centuries to what we see today. Beginning in the last half of the 20th
century in particular, museums, along with the notion “museum”, have been
dissected, analysed, pondered, and subjected to continuous, almost obsessive
scrutiny from within the museum community. During this time, the “science”
of museology was developed and a “new museology” advanced. The latter aimed
to steer museums away from their focus on methodology (“old museology”
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Mise-en-scène
In its most basic sense, a museum is a place where objects of importance,
beauty, relevance, intrinsic value, and so forth are deemed to be worthy of
acquisition, care, study and public display, and a place where visitors are able
to see artifacts or specimens selected for their illustrative significance whether
within a thematic framework or as stand-alone examples attesting to their
innate uniqueness, visual power, or by a range of other criteria. The museum
believes its exhibition offerings will not only attract the visual attention of
its visitors, but also convey, through accompanying texts, labels, and other
forms of “mixed media”, relevant data not only of an informative, but also of
an educative nature. In this way, the museum also holds that it is a place where
visitors can learn about themselves.
Whatever the museum does in carrying out its “prime directive” and fulfilling
whatever it believes society’s expectations are for achieving its purpose, whether
based on scholarship or as entertainment, the rules for the “museum method”
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Scenario
Caught in a web of attempting to define the museum so that it can be understood
and accepted by all to whom it applies, the challenge is to identify not only
the players in this process, but also the recipients of the final determination.
With the museum being a “Western” construct and having its most populous
roots in European society, it may be difficult for those living outside of this
catchment to fully comprehend and accept what originates under a Eurocentric
banner. Although countries which were once heavily colonized by Europeans
may well be accepting of a European status quo, this does not nor should not
constitute a universal carte blanche.
To think that a museum is a museum in a universal sense is to negate the societal
and cultural milieus in which it is located and for which it has concomitant
responsibilities. In this sense, should the starting point be not only from the
perspective of those the museum serves (the societal demographic), but also
in concert with those in that part of the population who have a legitimate and
vested interest in what the museum houses and in its various interpretive pro-
grammes (the politics of representation)? Might the whole notion of “museum”
need a serious rethink and subsequent actions for realignment undertaken?
The “traditional” museum is normally perceived as a finite structure in which
there are collections deemed to have been worthy of acquisition, in keeping
with its inherent policy, and where they are stored, conserved, researched,
and displayed and to which any person has access. Visitors to the museum
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are there primarily to see what is inside – the collections the museum holds
or a specific exhibition – or just to visit the gift shop or to have coffee in the
cafeteria. They may also be there to attend a museum organized event – a pro-
gramme, lecture, tour, demonstration – whatever the museum has orchestrated
for public consumption. Museums are also on the list of “must sees” for tourists
and the world’s premier institutions attract millions of visitors each year –
so many, in fact, that they are very cognizant of the “visitor numbers” game
played by their counterparts the world over. This has become a source of
both pride and bragging rights for many museums and is one of the primary
objectives of museum policy, often to the detriment of other activities which
museums perhaps ought to consider pursuing. Nevertheless, an emphasis on
visitor attraction for the income which museums need to pay staff, care for
the collections, present exhibitions and undertake programmes, will always
be a priority, regardless of the fact that most rely on grants and funding
from alternative sources that are primarily government based. There are also
museums funded by corporations and private individuals, thus placing them
in a questionable situation in respect of the requisite “not-for-profit” status. In
fact, are museums being pushed to become “money machines”? With altruism
not in the vocabulary of the museum lexicon, the focus can easily turn to one
of competition and predation.
An email, dated 15 May 2020, addressed to members of the Canadian Museums
Association, gave the 2019 results of a study undertaken by Oxford Econo-
mics which was commissioned by the Ottawa Declaration Working Group,
a consortium of stakeholders co-led by the Canadian Museums Association,
and Library and Archives Canada, which focused on the economic benefits
of non-profit galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs). The study
found that Canada gains a net profit of almost 8.6 billion dollars per annum
in economic benefits from the GLAM sector as it “feeds the economy and
innovation, and forms an integral part of the fabric of our nation, benefitting
Canadians of all ages, backgrounds and regions.” It further concludes that
GLAM visits “are associated with a number of other important societal benefits
including greater literacy, curiosity, innovation, knowledge and creativity, and
a better sense of community.”
Staying with economic issues, museums also have a discernible effect on the
marketplace in that they, primarily through the display of specially chosen
objects, set standards of what is valuable and worthy of collection. Acquiring
something perceived to be of “museum quality” for a special place in one’s
home is, interestingly, a throwback to the days of those private “cabinets of
curiosity”. Nevertheless, mini museums are well entrenched in many homes
of the wealthier members of society. In addition, museums themselves are
often predatory in the marketplace when engaging in collections acquisition
in an arena of competing wants for scarce resources, especially where supply
is low and demand high. The prices which museums pay for such acquisitions
contribute to and often set the benchmark for the sale of similar objects in
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the future. In this way, in fact, museums are often major players not only in
setting standards of excellence, but also in effecting the economic dynamics
in that marketplace. This goes for a whole raft of objects, from antiquities, to
historic treasures, to fine arts, to riches from exotic lands, to archaeological
and ethnological material culture. While many objects are acquired legitima-
tely, forays into the marketplace in some instances may be questionable unless
museums undertake their due diligence regarding the legitimacy of acquisition
and the attending ethics governing the transactions.
On closer examination, museums come in many different forms ranging from
the “traditional” museum described above, whether it be a large, all-encompas-
sing institution having national stature, to a small, community-based facility
often located within or under the aegis of another larger entity (such as a com-
munity centre) to which it is administratively linked. There are ecomuseums
which physically encompass entire communities; neighbourhood museums;
tiny museums tucked in the back rooms of civic buildings, businesses or shops;
historic, palatial and religious buildings and sites; open air museums; travelling
museums; cyber or virtual museums; special spaces such as “keeping places”
deemed by locals to be “museums”; and even field labs which are often consi-
dered as being in the category of “museum”. Private museums are springing
up which showcase the collections of the very wealthy and which are open to
the public. Into this mix, the American Alliance of Museums (formerly the
American Association of Museums) also includes botanical gardens, zoolo-
gical parks, aquaria, planetaria, battlefields, and cultural heritage centres. In
addition, there are even “museums”, such as the Arizona Museum for Youth
(now called the i.d.e.a. Museum), which have no collections of their own and
create temporary exhibitions using works of art borrowed from established
institutions (Watkins, 1994, p. 28). Still, I am certain that there are other places
and functions or experiences professing to be “museum” which have been
left out of this list. Nevertheless, this comprises an incredibly wide range of
“museumness” and it is certain that both the term and concept “museum” has
a cachet which most everyone agrees is both recognizable and has a level of
publically perceived importance.
Consequently, being able to define all museums under one meaningful umbrella
poses a huge logistical problem and doing so would undoubtedly negate the
community-ness of most, along with the attending pride any community may
have in its museum. Museum definitions generate a strange dialectic and are
very much based on achieving a means to an end which is couched in language
to meet standards set by institutions and organizations of the “higher echelon”
and not by each community. This then sets up a dichotomy where each entity
can gauge whether it is “in” or “out” of the “legitimate” museum sphere and
therefore whether it has the “right” to call itself “museum”. Community ethos
is a valued commodity for its residents and to be told that its museum does
not fit the prescribed definition, thus rendering it therefore a “non-museum”,
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would be socially and emotionally injurious not only to the community’s iden-
tity and pride, but also to the national good.
Nevertheless, “official” museum definitions emanate from the heart of the
“Western construct” and therein lies the issue at hand. They are not “universal”
in their intent and, in fact, they never can be. Who is to say what is or is not a
“museum”? Policy makers and definition builders need to know that there are
peoples who live in the world in whose languages the word “museum” does not
exist. This even includes peoples who live in colonized countries such as Canada
and the United States and who themselves may have museums or museum-like
collections on their indigenous reserves. Although almost all these peoples now
speak English, the lexicon of which contains the word “museum”, their native
tongues do not. Even while indigenous languages are fading from memory as
the number of native speakers decreases rapidly, there are many concerted
and urgent efforts being made to preserve those languages under threat of
extinction. Perhaps even new terms might be added that may give reference
to something “museum-like”, but the perception of what indigenous peoples
perceive as “museum” may, in fact, be something entirely different. Does this
make it even less valid and thus not worthy of inclusion?
This is an important element as museums have appropriated material culture
from nearly all indigenous peoples worldwide and such objects have contributed
extensively to the status that reputable museums enjoy today. Not only have
such treasured and valuable “spoils” graced the exhibition halls of museum
establishments, but also museums were complicit in the 19th and early 20th
century “human zoo” displays which represented a growing public curiosity
in so-called “primitive cultures”, the tragic story of Ishi being one case in
point (Clifford, 2013, pp. 91–191). Nevertheless, curiosity in this sphere has
not abated, as evidenced throughout the Karp and Lavine 1991 publication
Exhibiting Cultures and referenced by Desmond in Part I of her study Staging
Tourism (1999, pp. 2–141). Perhaps the colonialistic perception of “them out
there” has clouded the issue to the extent that such peoples are at best either
marginalized or, at worst, forgotten completely. Unsurprisingly, these same
peoples do not see the museum in a positive light but rather as that entity
responsible for stealing their cultural objects for its own benefit. Now, in an
age in which these peoples are feeling closer to their indigenous roots and
are beginning to lay claim to the physical manifestations of their culture
through the growing repatriation movement, this past will dog the museum
and its often professed right of “ownership”. This situation has cast a negative
pall on the relationship between those museums holding such materials and
the descendants of the original owners. For the latter, their perception of the
museum, from the “outside looking in”, remains a negative one.
This is not to say that no steps have been taken to try to address the imba-
lance. In Canada, for example, the 1992 Task Force Report on Museums and First
Peoples: Turning the Page: Forging New Partnerships Between Museums and First
Peoples, sponsored by the Assembly of First Nations and Canadian Museums
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MYTH REALITIES
Museums teach about other peoples Museums are ethnocentric and use
and their cultures stolen culture to teach cultural supe-
riority
Epilogue
By museumifying other cultures, museums are not only asserting their control
and superiority, but also disregarding the essence of what it means to be a
member of a minority population and one without a critical mass or voice for
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representation. Until museums can come to grips with how they are perceived
by those communities from which they have purloined many of their trea-
sures, it will be impossible to design a “museum” definition that will ever have
anything close to either a universal comprehension or a universal acceptance.
Nevertheless, there is no reason why Gesellschaft and Gemeinschaft cannot have
a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship, but whether such can be couched
and encapsulated or even reflected in a definition, is, at the least, moot. To
date, definitions of “museum” have been perceived as partisan in nature and in
no way akin to plural experiences or even more than one ultimate reality. Lost
in the realm of ideas in a temporal world that constantly shifts and changes, it
would be almost impossible to reflect all communities, all peoples, all cultures,
all beliefs in such a process. Subtle exploitation, scientific racism and an ethos
of superiority aside, in ICOM’s May 2020 E-Newsletter, the words “Museums
are more trusted than governments and newspapers” have an uneasy ring and
should be a cause for concern.
In advance of the “new” museum definition that made its appearance in 2019,
ICOM’s periodical Museum International produced a special issue entitled: “The
Museum Definition, the Backbone of Museums” (Vol.71, No. 281–282, 2019),
which is full of human and societal-based issues that are people and community
oriented and far removed from any concept of a fully comprehensive defini-
tion. This being the case, it is evident that an inclusive, universally meaningful
definition is as elusive as ever.
References
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Cameron, D. F. (1993b). The Pilgrim and the Shrine: The Icon and the Oracle:
A Perspective on Museology for Tomorrow. ‘Principal Communica-
tions’ paper presented at Colloque: Musées et Recherches, Paris, France,
November 29 to December 1, 1993.
Cameron, D. F. (1996). The Goldfish Bowl. Unpublished paper.
Cameron, D. F. (1972). The Museum, a Temple or the Forum. In G. Anderson
(Ed.). (2004). Reinventing the Museum (pp. 61–73). Lanham, MD: Altamira
Press.
Clifford, J. (2013). Returns; Becoming Indigenous in the Twenty-first Century. Cam-
bridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Coates, J. F. (1984). The Future and Museums. Museum News, August 1984, 40–45.
Davis, A., Mairesse, F., & Desvallées, A. (Eds.). (2010). What is a Museum? Munich,
Germany: Verlag Dr. C. Müller-Straten Munchen.
Desmond, J. C. (1999). Staging Tourism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Desvallées, A. (1982). The subject/matter of museology. Unpublished paper
prepared for unpublished MuWoP 3, 1–9.
Desvallées, A., & Mairesse, F. (Eds.). (2010). Key Concepts of Museology. Paris,
France: Armand Colin.
González, R. J., Nader, l., & Ou, C. J. (2001). Towards an Ethnography of
Museums: Science, Technology and Us. In M. Bouquet (Ed.). (2001).
Academic Anthropology and the Museum. (pp. 106–116). New York and
Oxford: Berghahn Books.
Handler, R. (1993). An Anthropological Definition of the Museum and its
Purpose. Museum Anthropology, 17 (1), 33–36.
Karp, I., & Lavine, S. D. (Ed.). (1991). Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics
of Museum Display. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Lonetree, A. (2012). Decolonizing Museums. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press.
Mairesse, F. (Ed.). (2017). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle: Matériaux pour une dis-
cussion. Paris: ICOM/ICOFOM.
Mairesse, F., & Desvallées, A. (Ed.) (2007). Vers une redéfinition du musée? Paris,
France: L’Harmattan.
Maranda, L. (2015). Museum Ethics in the 21st Century: Museum Ethics Trans-
forming into Another Dimension. ICOFOM Study Series, 43b, 151–165.
Marstine, J. (Ed.). (2006). New Museum Theory and Practice. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Murphy, B. L. (2004). The Definition of the Museum. ICOM News, Vol. 57. No. 2.
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Parsons, T. (1968). The Structure of Social Action, Volume II. New York: The
Free Press.
Smith, H. I. (1917). The Work of Museums in Wartime. The Scientific Monthly,
April 1917, Reprinted April/May 1918 by The Science Press, 362–430.
Šola, T. (1987). The concept and nature of museology. Museum, No. 153, 45–49.
Vergo, P. (Ed.). (1989). The New Museology. London, UK: Reaktion Books, Ltd.
Watkins, C. A. (1994). Are Museums Still Necessary? Curator, 37/1, 25–35.
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Articles • Beyond the Modern Museum. A theoretical framework [...]
Beyond the
Modern Museum.
A theoretical
framework for a
museal landscape
analysis
Sara Pastore
Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II” -
Napoli, Italia
Abstract
Today museum studies have a duty to keep pace with the museum’s
perpetual renewal. This paper, then, aims to outline a new research
path in order to grasp what are today the most significant catego-
ries and features of the contemporary museum. This will be done by
bringing together the contributions of two disciplines so close to each
other in subject and purpose, yet still so far apart in the academic
discourse, namely museology and the sociology of art. Through the
intertwining of theories and concepts of social aesthetics, the systemic
approach, and new and post-critical museology, an attempt is made
to develop a new research programme to observe museal landscapes.
This will be applied to the city of Naples, in the belief that, while it is
true that every community is in a class by itself, and therefore cannot
be generalized, this is not true of this method which, on the contrary,
could be fruitfully applied to a wide number of contexts.
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Articles • Beyond the Modern Museum. A theoretical framework [...]
Résumé
*
Introduction
Museums have been there through all the stages of modernity, escorting the
human species on a never-ending journey across the borders of past, present and
future. But just like their favourite subject, namely human culture, museums too
are in a state of perpetual change. Modernity is no longer the fabric of society
and, in the same way, the modern art museum is something from a bygone era.
Just as in natural sciences new phenomena call for new theories to explain
them, the new format of art museums requires a new approach in order to
grasp their complex nature and role in a broader societal context.
Therefore, the aim of this paper is to outline a new pathway capable of granting
insights through the study and observation of the museum by looking at two
areas that are closely related but separated in common academic discourse:
museology and the sociology of art. From the field of museology, this research
refers to new museology (Vergo, 1989; Macdonald, 2006) and post-critical
museology in order to underline the most characteristic features and facets of
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Articles • Beyond the Modern Museum. A theoretical framework [...]
the art museum today. From the sociology of art, a wide number of approaches
are taken into account, such as social aesthetics (Nisbet, 1976; Wolff, 1981;
Griswold, 2012) and the systemic approach, ranging from the first, more struc-
tured theories (Danto, 1964; Becker, 1982; Bourdieu, 1983) to the more recent
and fluid views (Luhmann, 2000; Latour, 2005; Van Maanen, 2009).
This paper, then, configures itself as a starting point, more than a finish line.
The main goal is to take part in a perpetual debate fostering a new and cut-
ting-edge research programme.
The approach resulting from this study is part of an ongoing PhD project
and will be tested in relation to the city of Naples. Being characterized by
its thriving cultural heritage, this city is our case study in order to prove the
efficiency of the suggested approach, which could overhaul the way we look at
the contemporary museal landscape, reconstructing it in a more thorough way.
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Articles • Beyond the Modern Museum. A theoretical framework [...]
many different actors meet while they achieve a tangible expression of the
techno-cultural nature of human utterance.
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Articles • Beyond the Modern Museum. A theoretical framework [...]
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Articles • Beyond the Modern Museum. A theoretical framework [...]
materials, forms, and dimensions and make possible the relationships between
artists, distributors and audiences. Thus, artworks always bear the marks of
the system which distributes them (Becker 1982).
Even if it is open to a certain amount of criticism, Becker’s approach is cru-
cial since it opens the museum field to the observations of many activities
involved in the artistic process, and considers the problems of the function
of art in society: it connects the organizational aspects of the artworld with
the substantive question of the value of art reception for audiences and for
the culture they live in (Van Maanen, 2009).
The adoption of a systemic perspective in the study of art and the focus on
the distribution domain – that is to say on the museal organization – opens
up multiple and innovative research paths. However, this is not enough, as it
is necessary to contextualize the distribution domain itself. Just as the artistic
ecosystem takes the shape of a complex blend of different elements, so it is also
to be contextualized in a broader setting, which in turn is conditioned by many
processes, actors and relationships. A very significant step in this direction was
made by Bourdieu, with his field theory (Bourdieu, 1983), whose main purpose
was to elaborate a theoretical construct capable of explaining the artworld’s
complexity and to reveal the underlying structures and mechanisms, beyond
the simple enumeration.
In Bourdieu’s theory, field, habitus and capital play a main role in the artistic
process. The field can be described as a structure of relationships between
social positions, occupied by specific agents, who aim to gain, maintain and
manifest a specific symbolic capital, relying on other forms of capital and on
a shared cultural corpus (the habitus). Thus, Bourdieu proposes to approach
the artistic field as a structure of objective relations, which could be described
through a series of general principles regulating the distribution of capital,
the strategy of conservation, subversion and recognition of the field’s laws.
The heuristic proficiency of Bourdieu’s theory lies in the possibility of putting
into the background the individual action stressing the structural relations
between different social positions instead. Therefore, if on the one hand the
study of artistic processes cannot be reduced to only aesthetic–philosophical
speculation, it cannot be limited to just the examination of the time–space
context either.
Among the other theories there are two similarly narrow ones that recur in
art studies. The first is the “art for art’s sake” viewpoint, which considers the
artwork as an isolated and closed object in itself. The second is the external
reading of the artistic product, which does not go any further from obser-
ving the social conditions of the artwork’s context of production. In order to
avoid both of these limited perspectives, artistic processes must be observed
in relational terms.
For this reason, Bourdieu introduces the notion of external forces into the
artistic theory. By including the literary and artistic field inside the broader
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Articles • Beyond the Modern Museum. A theoretical framework [...]
”
The museum, thus, offers itself to modernity as the most suitable version of
the already established practice of collecting. The practice of collecting has
changed following the modern pedagogic paradigm, emphasizing the semantic
ritual value of things, the encyclopaedic project and the tangible manifestation
of bourgeois luxury.
In addition, museums are deeply bound to other institutions, such as the World
Expo between them they interweave the collectable object’s sacralization and
the commodified object’s symbolic value (Abruzzese, 2000).
There’s no doubt that the factory building was the epitome of modernity,
around which – materially and metaphorically – the organization of society
unfolded itself. From the second half of the 20th century the factory has been
through some major developments, becoming fragmented and scattered. In
the same way museums have undergone numerous changes connected to what
many scholars call postmodernity (Lyotard, 1984; Jameson, 1991). Whatever
one wants to call it, we’re dealing with a redefinition of the typical modern
narratives.
Politicians, rulers, artists, artworks, institutions and organizations: no one was
spared in such an upheaval of aesthetic, social and linguistic dogmas. The same
applies for museums too. For this reason, it is not possible anymore to make
use, in museum studies, of frames and concepts that belong to an era which no
longer exists. There’s a need for something to fit the ever-changing landscape
around us. The systemic standpoints introduced by Becker and Bourdieu could
fulfil this need if combined with a much more flexible vision able to explain
contemporary social models.
The main arguments we will focus on in this section are Latour’s Actor Network
Theory (Latour, 2005) and Luhmann’s Social System Theory (Luhmann, 2000),
in order to find a point of view from which we can observe the museum in
its contemporary form.
Luhmann’s social system is that set of relations which arises between what he
calls communicative utterances (Luhmann, 2000) Therefore, a social system is
autonomous and autopoietic, in the sense that it is made by its own processes.
However, it is not isolated, as it engages in a so-called structural coupling with
other systems (Luhmann, 2000) which allows them to perpetually associate
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and to function through reciprocal interaction. Within this framework, the art
system differs from the others in the types of communication which comprise
it. These are the artistic utterances which rely on the ability to communicate
in a material or perceptible form. The picture drawn in Art as a Social System
is, then, a complex and compound one, in which the art system arises from
the intertwining of different utterances such as artworks, the way they are
distributed and displayed, and the dynamics springing from the fulfilment of
their purpose. Thus, Luhmann’s perspective allows us to observe the art system
as a multidimensional machine and, at the same time, as a fluid organism, as its
very same component parts are identifiable as processual. Moreover, resulting
from this view, is again the effectiveness of the analysis of the distribution
domain, the dimension in which the art system’s objects are produced and
offered, allowing the thriving of the system itself from utterance to utterance.
Strongly influenced by the modification of the modern paradigm is Latour’s
Actor Network Theory, which is shaped as a strategy to observe social pro-
cesses without any a priori cognitive constraints. ANT’s key concept is the
network, which is described as an existing set of relations to be described and
interpreted, a non-structured structure engaged in perpetual change (Latour,
2000). Such structures are characterized by some fundamental features: conti-
nual movement, an internal porosity and permeability, and the ability to be
observed from various points of view.
To summarize, ANT offers some very effective concepts with which to unders-
tand the way artworlds organize themselves and function. In the first place,
there is the articulation of the different levels of production, distribution and
reception. These layers are in a condition of mutual and functional relationships
between them and with what’s around them. In the second place, actors not only
produce actions significant for themselves, but which also affect each other’s
agency. Actor Network Theory then allows us to clarify the organization of
the artworld on the various levels of production, distribution and reception
and underlines the functional relationships between these layers. Moreover,
there is the key idea of passage and its transmuting effect:
“It will be clear that the description of what happens with different
groups of people when they go through the different types of passages
the artworld provides, is also at the heart of the question of how art
is made to function in a society. Conversely, the concept of passages
challenges the artworld to think about how its translation centres
function and possibly could be reorganized to generate other or addi-
tional effects” (Van Maanen, 2009, p. 103).
”
By making use of the sociology of translation’s vocabulary, ANT can answer a
methodological issue arising from the observation of an unpredictable and hazy
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society. The same notion of translation – the complex process which constantly
mixes together a variety of social and natural entities, and thus also enables an
explanation of how only a few obtain the right to express and communicate,
representing the many silent actors they have mobilized – emphasizes the
continuity in which the processes of changing and remodelling occur.
Therefore, considering the art system as a network in this sense – rather than as
a fixed and stable structure following, for example, the Bourdieusian paradigm
– the museum earns a paramount role as a centre of creativity, organization
and distribution.
What the theories of Becker, Bourdieu, Luhmann and Latour have in common,
is that they all feature a position useful to understand how the artworld’s
organization is vital for the functioning of art itself. Despite some differences,
other common points emerge, which are very significant to the viewpoint of
this paper. First, the assumption that art is not only something to look at but
also does something, and it’s in this sense that the sociologist must approach
it. Secondly, the view that aesthetic production, distribution and reception
are interdependent and, for this reason, in order to comprehend what art does
– and how – one must look at all three domains, emphasizing the role of the
actors, such as museums, that allow their functional relationship.
“To understand what art does and what makes art do something, it
should be known how different types of art events […] are conditio-
ning different types of experience […]. What could be expected from
the sociology of art is that it formulates the significance of the orga-
nizational character of art events for the societal functioning of the
arts presented.” (Van Maanen, 2009, p. 128)
”
These events Van Maanen talks about are then crucial to ensure the functioning
of art at an individual and a collective level, bringing organizational forms
and their communication strategies into the foreground of a contemporary
sociology of art. It will be clear how this idea suggests a research path based
on the bridging between art sociology and museology, in order to grasp com-
pletely and extensively the observed phenomena.
“[…] So, the domain of distribution makes the work of art available
– by using it in a particular way and in that sense changing it –
creates the audience for it, and brings both together, three aspects to
be studied by sociologists of art in detail. And by doing this, distri-
buting organizations give art a place in a community or society, a
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specific place based on the type of events they provide.” (Van Maa-
nen, 2009, 128)
”
Sketching a research proposal. Museology and sociology
in the service of museal landscape study.
Given the aim of this paper – to delineate a new research path for museum
studies based on the evaluation of the actual features and conditions of the
object of analysis – each of the studies taken into account bestows a crucial
insight. From Becker and Bourdieu, we draw the framework within which one
must look at the artworld Danto first talked about. On the other hand, from
scholars such as Luhmann and Latour we learn how to adapt these concepts
to the contemporary era. Sociology of art then has told us why to look at
art and how to do it, by highlighting the priorities of art studies and of the
distribution domain even beyond museology’s own interests. At this point,
we should turn to museology in order to evaluate which aspects of the main
systems of the distribution domain have to be taken into account.
Post-critical museology is a new line of research which draws upon sociological
theory and method and, in line with its characterization of the hybrid nature of
the museum, is itself a hybrid (Dewdney, Dibosa & Walsh, 2013). The primary
aim of the post-critical point of view is thus to avoid the remote position of
analytical critique (Dewdney, Dibosa & Walsh, 2013) and to develop a position
calibrated to the political, economic and social changes occurring on a global
scale and accountable for a new way of looking at art.
The bridging between museology’s most recent contribution and the sociology
of art and media studies’ more rooted and well-rehearsed theories is intended
to provide a theoretical framework capable of covering the needs brought
about by the contemporary museal landscape.
Such a manifold framework is essential in moving back and forth between
the observation of the agents of exhibition (museums) and the objects of
exhibition (works of art). Because, while museology and the sociology of art’s
systemic approach stresses the relevance of the domain of distribution, social
aesthetics and media studies uphold the need to focus on artistic expressions
for what they are, represent and do. Also, the recent developments in new and
post-critical museology allow us to grasp the most relevant topics in museum
studies today, such as the social role of museums and their relationships with
digital and information technologies. These major issues must be again inves-
tigated moving from the observation of the museum as an organism to that of
the artwork as its elementary particle. More specifically, the social role of the
museum is to be observed through both the policy adopted by the museum
and the messages conveyed by its events and exhibitions. The relationship
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”
Thus, the museum becomes at the same time a network and a link, a set of
hypertexts which goes back and forth from the realm of producers to that
of consumers, a distinction that in itself no longer makes any sense in the
contemporary mediascape.
It is not a coincidence that a great number of the terms used to describe the
museum allude to the digital world’s vocabulary. As a matter of fact, one
of the most characteristic features of the contemporary museum lies in its
relationship with digital and information technologies. Software has in fact
replaced a diverse array of physical, mechanical, and electronic technologies
used before the 21st century to create, store, distribute and access cultural
artefacts (Manovich, 2013).
The digital revolution has significantly influenced the museum’s organization,
fulfilment of purpose and perception, as Dewdney, Dibosa and Walsh stress
in their argument:
“[…] The two most compelling forces identified that are bringing
about global change are those associated with technological advance
and the convergence in digital form of a unitary code of information,
and the even greater accumulation and movement of capital and
labour in urban centres across the world. Both processes produce
cultural relativism and a general separation of people and ideas from
historical forms of tradition.” (2013, p. 5)
”
New media allow the museum to create new experiences and enhance familiar
ones in unprecedented ways (Tallon & Walker, 2008), welcoming plenty of
digital voices which enable many cutting-edge discourses. The art museum is
increasingly becoming a far more meaning-rich environment for its users and
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These sites are now main actors in the interpretive and creative arena and
will be observed following the same methodology outlined above in relation
to museums.
Conclusion
The museum environment is, following Bourdieu, a cultural field immersed
in a broader field. From the perspective of Luhmann, it is a system engaging
perpetually in a structural coupling with other social systems. Finally, accor-
ding to Latour, it is a fluid and open network in constant communication with
other elements and networks. It will be clear, then, that the most meaningful
changes which have occurred in the social, cultural, technological and political
environments, have also had a strong influence on museums.
Museum studies need, therefore, to change the focus and breadth of the ana-
lysis, by targeting not the single museum, but rather the museal landscape.
Moreover, in order to observe the most important features of the contemporary
art museum, previously mentioned, it is necessary to adopt a transdiscipli-
nary approach making use of the most contextually meaningful concepts and
frameworks – explained extensively above – in museum studies, mediology
and the sociology of art.
The museal landscape of Naples will be the testing ground for this transdis-
ciplinary approach, enabling us to observe complex communities that rely
significantly on their artistic, historic and cultural heritage. The final aim is to
demonstrate the flexibility of the methodological proposal. Such an approach,
defined on the basis of changes both in the artistic museal landscape and in
the social sphere in general, may also be fruitfully applied to other case studies.
References
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192
Articles • La définition de musée, défis et compromis au XXIe siècle
La définition de
musée, défis et
compromis au
XXI siècle :
e
Que nous en
disent les musées
eux-mêmes?
Michèle Rivet
C.M., Ad.E., Membre des conseils
d’administration, ICOM-Canada et ICOFOM
Vice-présidente, conseil d’administration,
Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne*
- Canada
Résumé
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Articles • La définition de musée, défis et compromis au XXIe siècle
Abstract
*
Le synopsis du présent ouvrage trace de manière fort analytique et exhaustive
le chemin, parsemé d’embûches, que les réflexions sur la définition de musée
ont jusqu’ici emprunté.
2017… Déjà plus de trois ans ! 2017, année de grande frénésie, année charnière,
la définition de musée est souvent à l’ordre du jour. En juin 2017, l’ICOFOM
tient, à Paris, son symposium: Définir le musée du XXIe siècle. Dans le cadre des
matériaux pour discussion, nous avions alors posé la question : « La définition
des musées : Que nous disent les droits nationaux? » (Rivet, 2017). Nous avions
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Articles • La définition de musée, défis et compromis au XXIe siècle
alors mené une enquête auprès de 23 pays1 afin de mieux comprendre comment
les pays définissent les musées.
C’est maintenant l’après-Kyoto. La réflexion continue et il apparait encore très
difficile de voir quelles pensées seront finalement retenues pour une définition
de musée qui puisse s’imposer à l’ensemble des composantes de la grande famille
de l’ICOM, quelque 135 pays avec des modèles culturels tellement différents !
Parmi tous les colloques, parmi toutes les réflexions sur cette quête d’une défi-
nition à la suite de Kyoto, il convient de mentionner tout particulièrement la
journée du 10 mars 2020 organisée par ICOM-France, en collaboration avec
ICOM-Allemagne, ICOM-Europe et le comité international ICOFOM. Lors
de cette journée de réflexion sur la définition de musée : « De quelle définition
les musées ont-ils besoin ? »2, précédée par une introduction juridique et une
introduction lexicale, la parole a été donnée aux représentants des comités
nationaux et internationaux3 et des alliances qui ont animé des discussions
avec leurs membres depuis six mois. En conclusion de la journée, la présidente
d’ICOM-France, Juliette Raoul-Duval, réaffirme l’importance que la définition
soit compréhensible et utilisable par tous, dans un langage aussi précis et neutre
que possible4. Elle rappelle la nécessaire distinction entre ce qui relève d’une
définition, au sens linguistique du terme, et ce qui relève d’une déclaration de
« mission » ou de « vision » pour un musée ou pour l’ICOM.
Qu’ajouter à toutes ces réflexions d’importance ? Nous choisissons de porter
notre regard sur le terrain, à l’instar de ce que nous avions fait en 2017, pour
1. * Le Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne est un musée national du Canada. Ces
propos sont exprimés à titre personnel.
La sélection des pays s’est alors faite en prenant en compte plusieurs critères dont la liste peut
être dressée sans qu’elle n’indique l’importance respective accordée à chacun d’eux, qu’il s’agisse
de la répartition géographique, du poids du pays au niveau international, de l’implication
nationale dans le monde muséal, du dynamisme des muséologues (Rivet, 2017, p. 80).
2. Juliette Raoul-Duval présidente d’ICOM-France en présente ainsi la journée : « Vous savez
comment est né le projet de cette journée, je n’en rappelle que quelques étapes : Kyoto et la pré-
sentation au vote d’une « nouvelle définition des musées », soulevant de nombreuses interroga-
tions, sur le fond comme sur la forme. Sur la forme, moins de 5 semaines d’été pour consulter
ses membres. Sur le fond : ambiguïté des formulations employées ou omises, positionnement
en second plan des collections et des tâches y afférentes, glissement de la nature-même de notre
organisation professionnelle jusqu’à embrasser largement les registres des droits de l’homme »
(23).
3. Quelque 23 comités nationaux sont intervenus : la Suisse, la Slovaquie, le Luxembourg,
Israël, la Géorgie, la Belgique, les Pays-Bas, l’Allemagne, l’Italie, le Bangladesh, la Croatie, l’Ir-
lande, l’Équateur, l’Autriche, l’Espagne, la Turquie, la Lettonie, la France, le Portugal, la Grèce,
l’Azerbaïdjan, la Pologne, l’Ukraine, l’Estonie. De même plus 10 comités internationaux ont
pris la parole.
4. Jean-Louis Chiss parle de l’importance que la définition de musée reste ouverte tout en ne
pouvant exclure l’existant : « il la faut en même temps prospective pour intégrer les musées du
XXIe siècle » (p. 126). Et plus loin, il affirme : « À quoi s’ajoute une pétition de principe qui est
celle d’une relative neutralité de la définition » (p. 126).
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Articles • La définition de musée, défis et compromis au XXIe siècle
illustrer comment des musées ont évolué au XXIe siècle, proposant ainsi des
éléments à prendre en considération dans une définition de musée.
Pour ce, nous regarderons en séquence, deux musées du Québec de nature
très différente, un musée de beaux-arts et un musée de société, ce dernier
terme englobant les musées d’art et traditions populaires comme les musées
d’ethnographie et d’histoire. Nous avons donc retenu le Musée des beaux-arts
de Montréal et le Musée de la civilisation de Québec5.Ces réflexions n’ont pas
la prétention de présenter des modèles qui soient universels, il va de soi Elles
servent à illustrer6 une importante tendance du monde muséal au XXIe siècle,
au Canada.
Au moment où le symposium annuel d’ICOFOM se tiendra à Montréal, Québec
et Ottawa7, en mars 2021, il nous apparait intéressant de nous arrêter sur les
voies que prennent ces deux musées. Ils nous donnent quelque indice d’éléments
à retenir dans une définition du musée.
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Articles • La définition de musée, défis et compromis au XXIe siècle
Sylvie Cameron, en 2013, affirme que l’action de Bondil « marque une transfor-
mation des territoires de référence du musée » (Cameron, p. 59). Des nouvelles
avenues s’ouvrent : « Ces patrimoines, ainsi que les savoirs qui les constituent,
jouxtent désormais les beaux-arts et l’héritage scientifique de leur interpré-
tation » (Cameron, 2013, p. 60). En 2016, Nathalie Bondil publie, dans le livre
du Pavillon pour la Paix, un Manifeste pour un musée des beaux-arts humaniste
(Bondil, 2016). Sous sa direction, le MBAM explore de nouvelles avenues à l’aune
de la diversité, de l’inclusion, de la pluridisciplinarité et du bien-être collectif.
De nouveaux patrimoines
La musique et le cinéma. Par la reconversion de l’église Erskine & American,
en 2011, le MBAM acquiert une salle de concert de quelque 460 places avec la
transformation de la nef et du chœur de l’église. De plus, ce nouveau pavillon,
qui repose sur un geste architectural à la fois contemporain et ancré dans le
contexte urbain, tout en établissant un dialogue avec l’édifice religieux, per-
met à l’ensemble de la collection permanente d’art québécois et canadien du
MBAM de loger à la même enseigne. En 2018, ce sera l’ouverture du Cinéma
du Musée dans cette cité muséale. Le MBAM veut ainsi de bonifier son offre
culturelle pluridisciplinaire.
La porosité des cultures, les arts du Tout-Monde. Par ailleurs, en novembre
2019, le MBAM inaugure une aile pour les Arts du Tout-Monde. 10 galeries sont
entièrement réaménagées dans le but de faire dialoguer des œuvres de cultures
anciennes, d’Afrique, d’Asie, de Méditerranée, du Moyen-Orient, d’Océanie et
des Amériques datant du 4e millénaire AEC à aujourd’hui, avec celles d’artistes
contemporains, dans une perspective interculturelle et transhistorique actua-
lisée en présentant un parcours géopolitique des Arts du Tout-Monde, Cette
appellation les « Arts du Tout-Monde » est choisie en référence à la pensée,
« ouverte sur les vastes horizons de notre maison commune » (Bondil, 2019),
du poète et philosophe Edouard Glissant (1928-2011) : « J’appelle Tout-Monde
notre univers tel qu’il change et perdure en échangeant » écrit-il (Bondil, 2019).
L’art-thérapie. De plus, pour le MBAM, l’art a une incidence positive sur le
bien-être et la santé physique et mentale : activités conçues pour des personnes
vivant avec des problèmes de santé mentale, appel à un art-thérapeute, à un
médecin et à un chercheur dans le cadre d’un programme destiné à des per-
sonnes souffrant de boulimie et d’anorexie. Au fil des ans, le MBAM accroît
le nombre et la portée de ses programmes éducatifs et sociocommunautaires
tout en mettant en place davantage de projets en santé et en art-thérapie. En
nationaux comme internationaux suivent ces événements, dignes d’une tragédie grecque. Certains
muséologues européens et américains se prononcent. Sur toute cette affaire, voir notamment l’ar-
ticle du 22 juillet du New York Times en page couverture de sa section Art and Design : Firing of
Museum Director Stirs Debate and an Official Inquiry
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/arts/design/montreal-museum-nathaliebondil.html?refer-
ringSource=articleShare (Page consultée le 25 juillet 2020).
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2017, le MBAM dévoile Éduc Art, une nouvelle plateforme éducative en ligne
(Deveault, 2017, p. 30) et crée un comité Art et santé qui, en 2018-2019 suit une
dizaine de projets pilotes en recherche clinique (Rapport annuel 2018-2019, p.
5). Le MBAM travaille de plus en collaboration avec l’Association des méde-
cins francophones du Canada dans le cadre d’un programme de prescriptions
médicales (un partenariat prometteur avec le CIUSSS, 2020).
La haute couture. Le MBAM a peaufiné ses grandes premières dans l’incursion
de la mode en 2011 avec l’exposition La planète mode de Jean Paul Gaultier : de
la rue aux étoiles. Conçue et produite par le MBAM qui a eu accès à toutes les
archives du couturier, cette exposition a été présentée en tournée à travers le
monde.12. Par la suite, le MBAM présente une autre exposition sur Jean-Paul
Gaultier, Love is Love en 2017 (Loriot, 2017, p. 30). En 2019, c’est l’exposition
Thierry Mugler : Couturissime, exposition conçue cette fois, de manière fort
différente. En effet, se tient alors en parallèle l’exposition Montréal Couture qui
réunit une trentaine de tenues signées par certains des designers confirmés
ou émergents qui définissent la mode québécoise d’aujourd’hui (Loriot, 2019,
pp. 34-35).
Une prise de position politique. À la suite des mouvements de colère et d’in-
dignation qui ont suivi l’homicide de George Floyd le 25 mai 2020, le MBAM a
publié sur la page couverture de son site Web un manifeste: Unissons-nous contre
le racisme (Site Web, MBAM). Le manifeste énonce : « Le Musée ne peut pas
rester silencieux face à la violence et la discrimination qui minent le quotidien
de personnes racisées et autochtones » Le manifeste invite toutes les commu-
nautés à prendre la parole. Le manifeste rappelle que le MBAM, a mis sur pied,
avec de nombreux partenaires artistiques, éducatifs et sociocommunautaires,
des initiatives pour imaginer un musée plus inclusif. Le manifeste ajoute:
”
La structure organisationnelle du MBAM
Terminons nos réflexions sur le MBAM en nous arrêtant quelque peu sur
l’organigramme du musée qui donne un portrait des différents pôles du musée
et témoigne de leur importance respective (Rapport annuel, 2018-2019, p. 56).
12. Jusqu’en 2016, cette exposition a été en tournée respectivement aux États-Unis, en Europe,
en Australie et en Corée du Sud.
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13. Le Québec compte, sur son territoire, quatre musées nationaux québécois, le musée des
beaux-arts du Québec, le musée d’Art contemporain de Montréal, le Musée de la civilisation et
le Musée canadien de l’histoire, ce dernier relevant de la juridiction fédérale toutefois.
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15. Réflexion sur les enjeux, les défis et les limites des stratégies de représentations de Soi et
des processus de décolonisation en muséologie.
16. En 2013, lors du 25 e anniversaire du Musée de la civilisation, le vocable a été changé pour
utiliser celui des Musées de la civilisation qui désigne l’ensemble des institutions gérées par le
Musée de la civilisation
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exposition s’inscrit, selon nous, dans toute la place que les musées au Canada
tentent de donner aux réalités vécues par les Autochtones.
Au cours des années 2018 et 2019, le musée de la civilisation met en place plu-
sieurs applications numériques. Ainsi le Musée a inauguré le MLab Creaform,
un laboratoire d’innovation et de création numérique dédié à l’expérimenta-
tion (Rapport annuel, Musée de la civilisation, p. 4) qui offre de nombreuses
opportunités de familiarisation avec les technologies numérique. Le public est
invité à explorer différemment les collections, les expositions et plus largement
les thèmes du Musée, tandis que la communauté numérique peut y présenter
des prototypes.
Le Musée élabore aussi une trousse éducative numérique Premiers Peuples qui
s’inscrit dans le prolongement de l’exposition : C’est notre histoire. Premières
Nations et Inuit du XXIe siècle . Cette trousse s’adresse aux élèves des trois cycles
du primaire qui peuvent, dans les cours de français ou d’anglais, accueillir la
parole des Autochtones grâce à des récits et des contenus muséaux.
Le Musée met également en place, en 2018, l’application mobile officielle du
Musée Mon MCQ qui a pour objectif de faire vivre une expérience interactive,
adaptée aux intérêts et aux préférences de chacun et ainsi de bonifier de façon
très dynamique l’expérience du visiteur.
En mars 2020, le Musée de la civilisation initie une nouvelle plateforme Une
heure au Musée, plateforme de contenus culturels à découvrir en ligne, mais
aussi un appel aux citoyens visant à engager une véritable conversation sur
leurs façons de faire face à la situation exceptionnelle et historique que vit la
planète entière en ce moment
En regardant l’organigramme du Musée (Rapport annuel, 2018-2019, p. 56) il
est intéressant de constater la place prépondérante qui est donnée au service
de l’engagement numérique, service qui relève directement de la direction
générale. Par ailleurs, la direction de la programmation regroupe les chargés
de projets responsables des expositions17. Il convient de mentionner aussi la
direction accueil et expérience du visiteur et la direction des collections qui
comprend un poste de conservateur responsable des prêts d’œuvres au musée
et des archivistes.
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18. Lors de sa création, la gestion par projets qui remplaçait ainsi les conservateurs était très nova-
trice. Depuis, d’autres musées évidemment ont adopté cette approche.
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”
En 2019, lors d’un entretien qui a pour titre Un musée humaniste et inclusif,
Nathalie Bondil affirme relativement à la définition de musée :
”
La définition de musée a été analysée au niveau linguistique. Ainsi, lors de
la journée du 10 mars 2020 qui s’est tenue à Paris20, Jean-Louis Chiss parle de
l’importance que la définition de musée reste ouverte tout en ne pouvant
exclure l’existant : « Il la faut en même temps prospective pour intégrer les
musées du XXIe siècle » (2020, p. 126). Par ailleurs, Van Mensch (2020, p. 373)
19. Nous pensons tout particulièrement à l’exposition du MBAM en 2011, La planète mode de
Jean Paul Gaultier : de la rue aux étoiles.
20. Dont nous avons parlé en début de texte.
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dans son analyse d’une définition de musée indique qu’une définition tout en
étant descriptive doit comporter des éléments normatifs.
Que retenir de ce bref survol des activités du MBAM et du Musée de la civili-
sation ? L’inclusion de tous et l’enracinement dans la cité, la pluridisciplinarité
des expertises, l’implication sociale et le rôle politique au sens premier du
terme sont¸ sans contredit, des éléments normatifs d’une définition ouverte
concepts applicables tout autant à un musée d’art qu’à un musée de société.
C’est ce que les professionnel(le)s, tant du MBAM que du Musée de la civilisa-
tion, implicitement, nous suggèrent d’incorporer dans la définition de musée.
Références
Bergeron, Y., & Côté, J.-A. (Dir.) (2016). Un nouveau musée pour un nouveau
monde Musée et muséologie selon Roland Arpin, Ouvrage qui rassemble
des textes et des discours rédigés par Roland Arpin entre 1987 et 2003,
Paris, L’Harmattan.
Bergeron, Y., & Dubé, P. (2009). Mémoire de Mémoires. Étude de l’exposition inau-
gurale du Musée de la civilisation. Québec, Presses de l’Université Laval.
Bondil, N. (2016). Manifeste pour un musée des beaux-arts humaniste, dans
Pavillon pour la paix Michal et Renata Hornstein, (pp. 20-28) Montréal,
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.
Bondil, N. (2019). Un parcours géopolitique des Arts du Tout-Monde, Revue du
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, septembre à décembre, p.3.
Bondil, N., Meunier, N., & Rose, J. (2019). Vers un musée humaniste et inclusif,
La Lettre de l’OCIM, 54-57. https://doi.org/10.4000/ocim.2394
Brown, K., & Mairesse, F. (2018). The definition of the museum through its
social role. Curator: The Museum Journal, 61(4), 525-539.
Bueno Buoro, A., & Porto, C. (2017). Ce fameux dilemme, les questions inter-
pellantes soulevées par les acteurs des musées brésiliens résonnent par-
delà les frontières, ICOM, 25 janvier 2017, Page consultée le 1 juin 2020,
https://icom.museum/fr/news/the-known-dilemma/.
Cameron, S. (2013) Nathalie Bondil, Les nouveaux territoires du musée d’art,
dans Tobelem, J-M., (Dir). (2013). Arts et gestion de l’art leadership et ins-
titutions culturelles, (pp 49-72). Montréal: Liber.
Champagne, M. (2017). Encyclopédie canadienne, Le Musée des beaux-arts de
Montréal.Page consultée le 23 juin 2020, https://www.thecanadianency-
clopedia.ca/fr/article/musee-des-beaux-arts-de-montreal.
Chiss, J.L. (2020). Quelques remarques linguistiques sur la définition de
« musée » Dans ICOM France, Comité national français de l’ICOM
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Articles • La définition de musée, défis et compromis au XXIe siècle
(Dir.), De quelle définition les musées ont-ils besoin ? Actes de la journée des
Comités de l’ICOM, (pp 123-128). Paris : ICOM-France. Page consultée le
30 juin 2020, https://www.icom-musees.fr/actualites/de-quelle-defini-
tion-les-musees-ont-ils-besoin .
Communiqué de presse, MBAM (2020, Avril 27). Une conservatrice en arts inter-
culturels pour le MBAM, Page consultée le 25 juin 2020, https://www.mbam.
qc.ca/fr/actualites/une-conservatrice-des-arts-interculturels-pour-le-mbam/
Côté, M. (2013, Novembre 26). Communiqué de presse, Musée de la civilisation, C’est
notre histoire. Premières Nations et Inuit du XXIe siècle. Page consultée le 20
juin 2020, https://www.mcq.org/fr/communique-presse?id=65469.(
Deveault, M. (2017, septembre-décembre). Le musée s’invite dans les classes du
Québec, Revue du Musée des beaux-arts du Québec, p. 30.
ICOM, OECD (2019). Culture and Local Development: Maximising the Impact. A
Guide for Local Governments, Communities and Museums. Fondatione de
Venezia. Page consultée le 15 avril 2020, https://icom.museum/wpcontent/
uploads/2019/09/OECD-ICOM-GUIDE-MUSEUMS.pdf .
Jérôme, L., & Kaine, E. (2014). Représentations de soi et décolonisation dans
les musées: quelles voix pour les objets de l’exposition. C’est notre his-
toire. Premières Nations et Inuit du XXIe siècle? Vue de l’autre, voix
de l’objet: matérialiser l’immatériel dans les musées. Anthropologie et
société, 38 (3), 231-254.
Loriot, T.M. (2019, mai à août). Montréal Couture, coup de chapeau à la mode
québécoise, Revue du musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, 14-15.
Loriot, T-M. (2017, mai à août). « Love is love » par Jean-Paul Gaultier, Revue
du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, p.30.
Mairesse, F. (2020). Éléments de muséologie pure. Dans P. van Mesch, Vers une
méthodologie de la muséologie (pp. 9-20). Paris : L’Harmattan.
Raoul-Duval, J. (2020). Présentation de la journée Dans ICOM France, Comité
national français de l’ICOM (Dir.), De quelle définition les musées ont-ils
besoin ? Actes de la journée des Comités de l’ICOM, (pp 23-32). Paris : ICOM-
France. Page consultée le 30 juin 2020, https://www.icom-musees.fr/
actualites/de-quelle-definition-les-musees-ont-ils-besoin.
Rapport annuel (2018-2019), Musée de la civilisation. Page consultée le 26
juin 2020, https://www.mcq.org/documents/10706/28705/rapport_
annuel_18-19.pdf/3691fadc-395b-418f-93bc-262123e335a8MCQ.Org.
Rapport annuel (2018-2019). Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. Page consul-
tée le 5 juin 2020, https://www.mbam.qc.ca/fr/decouvrir-le-musee/rap-
ports-annuels.
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Rivet, M. (2017). La définition de musée: Que nous disent les droits nationaux
? Dans F. Mairesse (Dir.), Définir le musée du XXIe siècle (pp. 53-79). Paris:
ICOFOM.
Sicotte, G., Séguin, F., & Lapierre, L. (1993). Roland Arpin et le musée de la civi-
lisation. Montréal, Canada: Presses HEC.
Simard, C. (Dir.). (2009). Visite libre, les 20 ans du Musée de la civilisation. Qué-
bec : Fides.
Site Web du MBAM, (2020). Unissons-nous contre le racisme. Page consultée le 30
juin 2020, https://www.mbam.qc.ca/fr/unissons-nous-contre-le-racisme/
Un partenariat prometteur avec le CIUSSS Centre-Ouest pour les programmes
de prescription muséale et de neuro diversité du MBAM (2020, jan-
vier-avril). Revue du Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, p. 33.
van Mensch, P. (2020). Vers une méthodologie de la muséologie, Paris, L’Har-
mattan.
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Remirar el
museo desde
el escenario
brasileño
Alejandra Saladino
Universidad Federal del Estado de Río de Janeiro
– Río de Janeiro, Brasil
Resumen
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Abstract
*
Lo que caracteriza a un museo es la intención con la que fue creado y el reconoci-
miento público (lo más amplio posible) de que es efectivamente un museo, es decir,
una institución auténtica. El museo es el sitio del hecho “museal”; pero para que esto
suceda concretamente, es necesario “musealizar” los objetos (objetos materiales y
objetos conceptuales). Así podemos “musealizar” objetos que son vestigios, evidencias
de la existencia del hombre y de su ambiente, natural o modificado por él mismo.
Waldisa Russio
(Bruno, 2010b, p.124-125)
”
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Este texto tiene por objetivo presentar el resultado del desafío asumido de
reflexionar sobre las implicaciones prácticas, administrativas y legales en el uso
de la definición de museo propuesta por ICOM en 2019, teniendo en cuenta
el escenario actual de Brasil. Se trata de un reto por lo complejo del contexto
actual, impactado por la pandemia del COVID-19 y por la crisis del sector
cultural bajo presiones del campo político y económico. Teniendo en cuenta la
trayectoria de las políticas para los museos, se acepta la propuesta de intentar
contestar a las siguientes preguntas: ¿Cómo la definición de museo del ICOM
especifica las prácticas y las políticas públicas locales al generar estándares y
reglas para su forma de actuar? ¿Qué instituciones están incluidas, desde una
perspectiva legal, política y financiera, en la categoría de “museo”? ¿Cuáles
están excluidas y luchan por obtener reconocimiento público y financiero?
Las reflexiones se presentan en dos partes. La primera enseña una mirada,
a vuelo de pájaro, sobre las políticas del sector de museos en Brasil, pero en
el contexto más amplio de las políticas públicas de cultura y de patrimonio
cultural. En la segunda parte se exponen algunas reflexiones sobre las implica-
ciones prácticas, administrativas y legales en el uso de la definición de museo
propuesta por ICOM en 2019 en el escenario actual de Brasil, teniendo en
cuenta la conyuntura actual.
No obstante, antes de presentar esos ítems, es importante aclarar algunos
conceptos clave para esta mirada y también las perspectivas teóricas desde las
cuales se analisa el tema. En primer lugar, hay que diferenciar las nociones de
política cultural y política pública de cultura.
La idea de política cultural está fundamentada en las miradas del antropólogo
Néstor García Canclini (2005) y del sociólogo, Antonio Canelas Rubim (2007),
y la historiadora Lia Calabre (2007), que lo acompañan a él. Concreta y sencil-
lamente, las políticas culturales son arreglos técnicos y administrativos deri-
vados de decisiones políticas, realizadas por el Estado, los organismos civiles
y los grupos comunitarios” (García Canclini, 2005, pp.78), pero “teniendo en
cuenta el carácter transnacional de los procesos simbólicos y materiales en
la actualidad (García Canclini, 2005, pp.78)1. Luego, las políticas culturales
pueden plantearse y ser activadas también por agentes no estatales.
La noción de política pública de cultura está basada en la definición propuesta
por la socióloga Anita Simis (2007), tratándose de directivas generales derivadas
de una decisión política y dirigidas al interés público, cuya responsabilidad es
predominantemente de los órganos gubernamentales.
La base para los argumentos aquí expuestos está en el Institucionalismo
Histórico. Se trata de una variable del Neoinstitucionalismo, una corriente
de la Teoría Política adecuada para observar e interpretar contextos y procesos
institucionales porque enfocada en los valores, padrones y prácticas institu-
1. Para profundizar sobre el concepto de políticas de cultura, véase la propuesta de modelo analítico
desarrollado por Antônio Canelas Rubim (2006).
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2. En este texto, la palabra institución se utiliza con el sentido atribuido desde el institucionalismo
histórico.
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3. En este artículo, el concepto museal representa el “campo práctico y aplicado de los museos”
(Blog História da Museologia).
4. El tema de las políticas públicas de cultura sobrepasa los objetivos y los límites formales de este
artículo. Para profundizar el asunto, véase Lia Calabre (2007; 2013; 2014), Antonio Rubim (2006,
2007) y Anita Simis (2007).
5. Para profundizar sobre la historia del patrimonio cultural en Brasil, destacando la actuación del
IPHAN, véase la obra de la historiadora Cecília Londres Fonseca (2005).
6. El autor identifica “tres tradiciones tristes” de las políticas culturales en el país: la ausencia de
políticas, la innestabilidad de ellas y su relación con gobiernos opresores (Rubim, 2006; 2007).
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9. Para profundizar sobre el tema de las políticas de inversión para el sector cultural, véase Calabre
(2007; 2013; 2014) y Rubim (2007).
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10. Sobre los objetivos estratégicos, ejes programáticos, instrumentos y dinámica de la PNM, véase
La Política Nacional de Museos. Memoria y ciudadanía (Iphan, 2003).
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11. El Ministerio se extinguió en 1990 (recreado en 1994), 2016 (recreado el mismo año) y 2019,
cuando ha sido transformado en Secretaría Especial de Cultura.
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”
Está claro que la crisis política y económica obliga al sector cultural, y luego a
los museos, retos dificilísimos de confrontar. Sin embargo, desde el Institucio-
nalismo Histórico, se observan de la trayectoria del área de los museos, de los
valores que fundamentan las políticas y las decisiones institucionales, algunos
aspectos afines con la definición de museo propuesta el 2019, que subraya el
carácter político y la función social de esa entidad.
Teniendo en cuenta la “dependencia de la trayectoria”, es decir, la tendencia de
mantener, a lo largo del tiempo, los valores correspondientes a las primeiras
opciones institucionales, conservados en las prácticas rutinizadas, se puede
observar que las elecciones del sector de museos en Brasil destacan la fun-
ción social de los museos, con énfasis en su competencia educativa. El área
museológica del país ha sido escenario de importantes hitos para el tema,
como el Seminario Regional de UNESCO para la función educativa de los
museos (1958) y el I Encuentro Internacional de Ecomuseos (1992). También
ha actuado como laboratorio para interesantes experimentos en educación
patrimonial y museal (destaca la creación de la PNEM y las articulaciones
para el reconocimiento y la profesionalización de los educadores de museos)
y figurado en la Museología Social, cuyos ejes se incorporaron en la PNM y
cuyos valores siguen orientando las/los agentes institucionales, estatales o no.
En síntesis, las opciones institucionales del sector de museos en Brasil marcan
la dimensión educativa del museo, confirmadas en las políticas del sector y
respectivos instrumentos y también por las recientes articulaciones de CECA/
ICOM/Brasil y de la REM para que la palabra “educación“ fuese incorporada
en la propuesta de definición recién presentada por el ICOM.
También es importante marcar las decisionese institucionales del área de los
museos en el país por coincidir con las directrices y recomendaciones del
ICOM, que se puede verificar en la influencia de la definición de museos del
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ICOM (de 1974, que pasó por algunas alteraciones en 2007) en la definición
presente en el artículo 1º de la Ley n. 11.904/09:
“Para los efectos de esta Ley, se considera que los museos son institu-
ciones sin fines de lucro que conservan, investigan, comunican, inter-
pretan y exhiben, con fines de conservación, estudio, investigación,
educación, contemplación, y turismo, colecciones de valor histórico,
artístico, científico, técnico o de cualquiera otra índole cultural,
abierta al público, al servicio de la sociedad y de su desarrollo.
”
Por eso, y desde una mirada más positiva, este puede ser un nomento oportuno
para revisar la nueva definición propuesta por el ICOM. Porque, en el Brasil
pandémico y pos pandémico, aún es más importante tener museos que asumen
su dimensión política y educativa, actuando como espacios donde los discur-
sos de las memorias y de los derechos humanos (con énfasis en los culturales)
“alimenten una dimensión universalizante que reconozca la particularidad
pero sin objetificarla” (Huyssen, 2014, p. 210)12. Es decir, que los museos se
responsabilicen por el proceso político de selección de memorias, que es la
gestión del patrimonio cultural, y refuercen y multipliquen las experiencias
de descolonización de sus discursos y prácticas, concentrándose más en los
procesos que en las cosas.
Luego, las implicaciones en el uso de la definición de museo propuesta por
el ICOM en 2019 en el escenario actual del país conllevan a la resistencia y a
la resiliencia, por parte de todas/os agentes (estatales o no) para el manteni-
miento de la PNM, que pasa por un proceso de debilitación. Consideramos
que la nueva definición de museo, especialmente los puntos relacionados a los
valores (la dignidad humana, la justicia social, la igualdad mundial y el bienestar
global) está en gran consonancia con los principios, las directrices y los ejes
estratégicos de la PNM. Luego, puede ser una forma de soportar las presiones
exógenas desde el sector político, puesto que la política del sector de museos
no ha sido completamente destruída ni abandonada, sigue en el discurso oficial
del IBRAM y en las prácticas e ilusiones de las/los agentes del área.
Concretamente, a nivel legal y administrativo consiste en mantener las leyes y
reglamientos del sector, puesto que están fundamentados en los principios del
12. Sobre el tema de los límites y retos de la relación entre derechos humanos y políticas de la memo-
ria, véase la obra del filólogo, Andreas Huyssen (2014).
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Referencias
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Articles • What kinds of museums for what kinds of societies?
What kinds of
museums for
what kinds of
societies?
Thomas Thiemeyer
University of Tübingen - Tübingen, Germany
Abstract
The article reflects the broader political contexts of the current debate
about ICOM’s museum definition. It focuses on the aim to commit
museums to specific values that define their place within their res-
pective societies. What kind of values are addressed? What is specific
about them? And why did they trigger such a lively debate? To my
mind the decisive question at the heart of the controversy is: Is the
new text about an ambitious museum vision for the future? Or should
ICOM rather pursue the cultural policy matters of formulating (mini-
mum) standards with its definition which (should) already apply to all
museums today and which policy respects?
Resumé
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*
“A museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of
society and its development, open to the public, which acquires,
conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and
intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purpo-
ses of education, study and enjoyment.” (ICOM Museum definition,
2007)
Museums are not for profit. They are participatory and transparent,
and work in active partnership with and for diverse communities to
collect, preserve, research, interpret, exhibit, and enhance understan-
dings of the world, aiming to contribute to human dignity and social
justice, global equality and planetary wellbeing.” (Proposed defini-
tion for the general assembly, 2019, in Kyoto)
”
The discursive power of ICOM’s definition of a museum is similar to that of
monuments: they only really become relevant when you argue about them
or try to tear them down. In this regard, the definition that the Museum
Definition, Prospects and Potentials (MDPP) group proposed at the ICOM
general assembly in Kyoto in the summer of 2019 was not only bold, it was a
great success. It ensured that museum professionals, cultural policymakers and
the media around the world addressed the question of what the essence of a
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museum is. In this way, the MDPP group has achieved what one can expect
from such a group: that it promotes awareness by teaching the community
to think “outside the box”. A complete break with the old definition was the
prerequisite for this discussion to take place now. The new text departed from
the outlined paths and opened up new horizons. Never before was the ques-
tion of what museums are or should be part of such a broad public debate in
countries all around the world.
The proposal itself, of course, is not all that novel. ICOM, especially ICOFOM,
has been debating for some time on how to update the definition.1 This was,
however, the first time that a completely new text to remedy the shortcomings
of the old definition was put to vote at the general assembly. The 2007 definition
was attested to as an “ethical vacuum” by the MDPP group in its first statement
in December 2018 (ICOM, 2018, p. 7). The Code of Ethics for Museums that
ICOM last updated in 2004 is considered too cautious regarding the question
of values. For the future, MDPP asserts, museums expect a clearer position
from ICOM, a definition that provides “a framework of value-based advocacy
or activist positions relative to people, to human rights and social justice, as
well as to nature as the – increasingly threatened – source of life” (ICOM, 2018,
p. 7). An apolitical self-image of the museum as an institution that just stores
and provides access to collections, allowing for research and educational work,
is no longer sustainable in times in which no publicly funded institution can
withdraw from its “social responsibility”.
1. There existed an ICOM Working Group on this topic from 2014 to 2016; Mairesse, F. (Dir.).
(2017). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle. Matériaux pour une discussion. Paris: ICOFOM; Brulon Soares,
B., Brown, K., & Nazor, O. (Eds.). (2018). Defining Museums of the 21st Century: Plural Experiences. Paris:
ICOFOM; Cf. for the latest discussion, the special issue “The Museum Definition. The Backbone of
Museums” (2019) [Special Issue], Museum International, 71(1–2).
2. Cf. also, for example, the four questions that members were asked during the round table mee-
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the other hand, the main criticism from ICOM Europe is that a definition
should be concise (a kind of mnemotechnic verse) and should describe the status
quo. It should say what museums have to achieve now and not what would be
desirable in the future. Critics see that the political relevance that the ICOM
definition has now acquired is at risk. In the end, the definition depends on
as many national museum associations and national governments as possible
recognizing it and referring to it politically (Rivet, 2017, Garlandini, 2018). Only
then can it achieve a form of commitment that helps museums to assert their
interests even against opposition. Only then can the term “museum”, which is
not legally protected, take shape. It is a precondition that the term determines
who can become an ICOM member and who cannot (this is a central function
of the definition for ICOM and why it is also part of the statutes).
Secondly, the critics of the new proposal are at odds with the politicization
of the museum, which is part of the new definition and which – according
to them – misses the reality of most museums. “The terms used in the text
submitted to the vote are not those used by the majority of its members.”
What they find particularly grave is that the political focus has eliminated
the reference to tangible and intangible cultural heritage – the unique feature
that distinguishes museums from other cultural institutions.3 They rightly
consider the new wording to be too unspecific to reveal the characteristics of
the institution of museum.
In general, the style of the failed definition proposal in Kyoto is categorically
different from previous definitions: with its stronger value orientation, it speaks
the language of cultural policy recommendations in the UN and UNESCO
style. That is something different from a definition in the narrow sense of the
word understood as “a statement expressing the essential nature of something”
(Merriam-Webster, 2016). The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (Resolution 61/295 from 2007) and the UNESCO Recommendation
concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections from
2015, with which ICOM was heavily involved, serve as ethical reference points.
“ICOM”, as written in an MDPP statement in reference to both documents and
to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, “is included in a world view
and values of justice, liberty and peace, of solidarity, social integration and
cohesion, sustainable development” (ICOM, 2018, p. 6). This is a commitment
to the values of liberal societies, although it is doubtful whether it will find
the approval of all governments around the world. The contrast to this vision
is formed by the rampant populisms and nationalisms with their exclusionary
tings. They all addressed how museums and society should develop in the next 10 years. Cf. Bonil-
la-Merchav, L. (2019). Letting Our Voices Be Heard: MDPP Roundtables on the Future of Museums.
Museum International, 71(1–2), pp. 160–169.
3. Invitation to postpone ICOM’s Extraordinary General Assembly in order to continue, with the
National and International committees, the debate on a new museum definition (http://network.
icom.museum/fileadmin/user_upload/minisites/icom-europe/images/Invitation_to_postpone_
ICOM_Museum_new_Definition.pdf).
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tions. The word “transparent” has been added to the new proposed definition
to target such cases. It has a critical impact on the direction of institutions.5
Transparency means disclosing where the funds the museums uses come from.
This is in regard to financial resources as well as the collection itself. Now more
than ever, public interest is focused on the latter, since word has spread that
holdings from the Nazi and colonial periods ended up in Western museum
storerooms under questionable to criminal circumstances. The Washington
Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art from 1998 and the recently published
recommendations for dealing with colonial collections in European museums
are the scientific and cultural policy answers to questions about past injustices
that today’s cultural institutions have to face.6 Their example is currently being
used to debate questions of public morality that are genuinely political and
to which the institutions must respond.
If by definition ICOM now wanted to call on its museums to guarantee “equal
rights and equal access to heritage for all people”, then this is aimed, not least,
at marginalized social groups – namely those once colonized peoples and states
whose cultural heritage is stored in European museums, or those indigenous
minorities in countries such as Canada, Australia or the US who could demand
access to the artifacts of their ancestors and, in some cases, found their own
museums. The idea that museums should be “participatory and transparent”
and work “in active partnership with and for diverse communities” goes in
the same direction. It grants “communities” a right to work independently
with collections, which is likely to be addressed specifically to those sub-state
groups and societies of origin, which have long been largely kept out of cultural
policy negotiations (especially in negotiations between countries for which
only governments are considered competent).
The terms “participation” and “partnership” stand pars pro toto for a changed
self-image of many museums in prosperous, liberal and democratic societies,
which are – or at least claim to be – first and foremost concerned with dialogue
and communication with their visitors. They see themselves as public spaces
in which different voices should be able to articulate themselves and speak
freely with each other. Consequently, the controversial proposed definition
calls museums “democratizing, inclusive and polyphonic spaces for critical
dialogue” that protect “diverse memories for future generations”. The critics
5. Previously, Sandahl had used “transparent” in connection with the term “accountability”, but
this did not make it into the new definition.
6. Cf. the Washington Principles (https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/eur/rt/hlcst/122038.htm); and for
colonial collections, Sarr, F., & Savoy, B. (2018, December). The Restitution of African Cultural Heri-
tage. Toward a New Relational Ethics. Retrieved July 1, 2020 from http://restitutionreport2018.com/
sarr_savoy_en.pdf; Deutscher Museumsbund (2019). Guidelines for German Museums. Care of Collections
from Colonial Contexts (2nd version 2019). Retrieved July 1, 2020 from https://www.museumsbund.
de/publikationen/guidelines-on-dealing-with-collections-from-colonial-contexts-2/; Thiemeyer, T.
(2019). Cosmopolitanizing Colonial Memories in Germany. Critical Inquiry, 45, 967-990. https://doi.
org/10.1086/703964.
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say that only some museums can meet such high goals – regardless of whether
they consider such a self-description appropriate. They also doubt that many
governments will follow such an interpretation. Ultimately, the message here
is that museums give up some of their authority over collections and inter-
pretations of the world.
7. This is suggested in particular by the discussion papers previously published; see ICOM Stan-
ding Committee for Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials (2018), especially p. 6.
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8. After all, ICOM does not describe the museum first and foremost for ICOM members, but for
a public and cultural policy that quite rightly expects the largest professional association to answer
the question of what is the purpose and task of the institution it represents.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Jette Sandahl, former chair of the MDPP group, and Anna
Leshchenko, vice chair of ICOFOM, for their hints and helpful comments.
This paper owes much to both of them.
References
Bollenbeck, G. (1994). Bildung und Kultur. Glanz und Elend eines deutschen Deu-
tungsmusters. Frankfurt a. M./Leipzig: Insel-Verlag.
Bonilla-Merchav, L. (2019). Letting Our Voices Be Heard: MDPP Roundtables
on the Future of Museums. Museum International, 71(1–2), 160–169.
Brulon Soares, B., Brown, K., & Nazor, O. (Eds.). (2018). Defining Museums of
the 21st Century: Plural Experiences. Paris: ICOFOM.
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (1998, December 3). Washington Confe-
rence Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved
July 1, 2018 from https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/eur/rt/hlcst/122038.htm
Butler, S. R. (2013). Reflexive Museology. Lost and Found. In S. Macdonald, K.
Message, & A. Witcomb (Eds.), Museum Theory (International Handbook
of Museum Studies) 1 (pp. 159–182). Oxford/Malden, US: Wiley-Blackwell.
Definition. (2016). In Merriam-Webster dictionary and thesaurus. Springfield, MA:
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020
from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/definition.
Deutscher Museumsbund (2019). Guidelines for German Museums. Care of Col-
lections from Colonial Contexts (2nd version 2019). Retrieved July 1, 2020
from https://www.museumsbund.de/publikationen/guidelines-on-dea-
ling-with-collections-from-colonial-contexts-2/
Foucault, M. (1975). Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la prison. Paris: Gallimard.
Garlandini, A. (2018). ICOM’s museum definition, Code of Ethics and policy
in favour of museums and heritage. In B. Brulon Soares, K. Brown & O.
Nazor (Eds.), Defining Museums of the 21st Century: Plural Experiences (pp.
169–176). Paris: ICOFOM.
Gramsci, A. (1975). Quaderni del carcere. Edizione critica dell’Istituto Gramsci
(4 vol.), ed. by V. Gerratana, Torino: Einaudi.
Grasskamp, W. (2016). Das Kunstmuseum: Eine erfolgreiche Fehlkonstruktion.
München: C.H. Beck.
Haraway, D. (1988): Situated Knowledges. The Science Question in Feminism
and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies, 14, 1988, 575–599.
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Articles • It Is, It Was, They Are, We Are: The Museum Definition [...]
It Is, It Was,
They Are, We
Are: The Museum
Definition as
a Norm and
a Collective
Framework
Markus Walz
Leipzig University of Applied Sciences – Leipzig,
Germany
Abstract
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Résumé
*
The universality of the ICOM museum definition
Besides the ICOM Code of Ethics, the ICOM museum definition is probably
the best-known document of the International Council of Museums. It is not
only used for internal purposes of ICOM. For example, the definition is used
to determine the admission of members to other museum organizations or as a
basis for various national and international museum registration schemes. The
ICOM museum definition is also the blueprint for numerous encyclopaedia
entries. If you do not know exactly what a museum is, consult a reference book
and you will often encounter paraphrases of the ICOM museum definition.
The best example is provided by the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. Whatever
you might think of the content of this medium, the relevance of this reading
is based on the fact that Wikipedia’s entries in different languages are written
completely independently of each other. Therefore, it is all the more remarkable
that several Wikipedia versions closely follow the ICOM museum definition (I
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have consulted the texts in Catalan, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian,
Portuguese, and Spanish/Castilian).
The ICOM museum definition is also useful for historical analysis. The alter-
native strategy of tracing back the term museum does not lead to any museum
history, because this term has gone through a very varied history. In Greek
antiquity, Mouseion meant “sanctuary of the muses”, but it was also the proper
name of a Hellenistic temple in Alexandria. In the Renaissance era, it was pos-
sible to call a palace with rich art and book collections a museum because of
these intellectual inspirations. The Baroque period developed a broad variety of
meanings for the word “museum”. Today’s understanding of the term appears to
be a special case: Johann Daniel Major (1634–1693) was Professor of Medicine at
the University of Kiel, founded in 1665 (in the Duchy of Schleswig, which was
under Danish sovereignty). He called his cabinet of natural history “Museum
Cimbricum” (Walz, 2016, pp. 8–9). It was not until the 19th century that the
meaning of the word “museum” narrowed to today’s understanding. These fluid
word meanings require starting with a set of relevant characteristics of the
phenomenon in order to arrive at a plausible museum history. Here, the use
of the ICOM museum definition is of interest. One dominant thesis claims
that the museum is a bourgeois-democratic institution whose invention took
place in connection with the French Revolution. To refute this thesis, the
French art historian Bénédicte Savoy discussed institutions which are older
than the Musée révolutionnaire (today: Musée du Louvre). She did not use the
ICOM museum definition in its full wording, but filtered out central aspects
(non-profit, permanent, publicly accessible, separate institution, collection) in
order to verify their realization in the 18th century. She concluded that there
were already museums of fine arts in Germany in the 18th century showing
the “cornerstones of the modern museum” (Savoy, 2006, p. 22).
The usefulness of the ICOM museum definition over a period of about 300
years may be due to the fact that the previous adaptations of the definition
text may well have contemporary references, but one cannot criticize the use
of vocabulary typical of the time. The 2007 appeal to a more abstract voca-
bulary, “heritage”, may reflect the zeitgeist of the early 21st century. But the
term heritage has its own 200-year history of meaning, even if this history is
predominantly related to the built cultural heritage. The 1974 addition “in the
service of society and its development” sprang from a vehement discussion
within the association (Mairesse, 2011, p. 292).
This distance from current phenomena and problems is particularly evident
in the so-called core functions of museums. Even the oldest formulation of
what the essential objects of museology are, in 1845, offered a list of terms
that largely corresponds to the terms used today: collecting, dissecting, clas-
sifying, setting up, storing, and demonstrating. The impression is reinforced
when one considers that the author, Alexander Held, only looked at natural
history museums and therefore thought of dissection instead of conservation
in general (Held, 1845).
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This first review proves the usefulness of the ICOM museum definition: just
like the definitions of old familiar objects, from spoons to houses, the current
ICOM museum definition offers comprehensive criteria for what a museum
is. It can also be used for research in institutions of the past corresponding to
the current understanding of a museum.
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collections for enthusiasts to research collections that are not open to the
public; e.g. in the natural sciences or medicine. Nevertheless, it appears clear
and selective to outsiders, as long as the individual museum is not expected
to demonstrably fulfil each part of the definition. This collective application
also makes the unfulfillable elements of the definition achievable: the museum
system of a state or the world has long since proven its permanence and its
contributions to social development.
The overall social view of museums is satisfied with the fact that individual
museums differ markedly and only the whole museum system has all the desired
features. From this it can be deduced that the social relevance of each indi-
vidual museum ranks significantly lower than museum professionals would
like to see it, which is why they act by accumulating criteria and adopting a
more comprehensive concept. In this respect, the proposed resolution for the
new version of the ICOM museum definition at the Extraordinary General
Assembly of ICOM in Kyoto on 7 September 2019 sensibly violated the basic
rule for definitions, always to formulate in the singular, and started with the
words “Museums are...”.
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activities, more institutions inevitably come into view, but at the same time
the problem arises that some institutions previously accepted as museums do
not fully carry out the activities now serving as criteria. Archaeological and
palaeontological sites, but also nature reserves, are characterized by the fact
that they do not acquire anything, or at least do not have to acquire anything,
but keep the phenomena worthy of preservation in their original location and
offer them for viewing, although only exhibit them in a metaphorical sense.
Take, for example, a rock slab with dinosaur footprints that has been lying
in the same spot for thousands of years: there are few options for rearran-
ging these exposed traces or adding further slabs. This example might look as
similar to museums as musealized castles or historic houses do. A “non-profit
art gallery” neither has a permanent collection nor looks like having one; the
similarity to museums is reduced to some activities (exhibiting, preserving,
and communicating works of art) – unlike the aforementioned heritage sites,
these galleries are not questionable cases but clearly phenomena outside the
museum definition that are included on the list of exceptions.
Furthermore, ICOM has discussed a special case once and then never again.
Archaeological open-air museums differ from archaeological sites in that
they do not show ruins or excavated finds at the original site, but complete
reconstructions of buildings and other phenomena of which they do not have
any remains, and often no site. The ICOM Declaration on the Definition of
Open-air Museums of July 1957 accepts those reconstructions as collection and
exhibition if original buildings do not exist anymore and if the reconstruction
precisely follows academic methods.
Unfortunately, there is no statistical data on how many ICOM members fully
meet the definition, and how many have been granted such exceptions. The issue
is even more complex, however, because those responsible for these phenomena
included in the ICOM museum definition are neither required to accept nor
even acknowledge this inclusion. Whole groups of approved members have
their own worldwide interest groups, e.g. zoos and libraries. According to
the ICOM statutes, they would be museums, but they are not, simply because
those responsible for them organize themselves in other associations and do
not join ICOM.
This list of institutions declared as museums, but which do not meet the museum
definition, was deleted during the last revision in 2007. What remained was
the non-transparent opening clause, inserted in 1989, which can be extended
at will: “the Executive Board may recognize other institutions as having some
or all characteristics of a museum”.
Obviously, ICOM wants to have much broader membership than just their
definition of museum would allow. This interest of the association is clearly
demonstrated in 2007 with the inclusion of tangible and intangible heritage
as a subject area of museums, although nobody can deny that the owners of
architectural, archaeological, and natural monuments, that archives, libraries,
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Every museum professional knows how to recite the formulaic chain of action
of the core functions: museums acquire, preserve, research, communicate, and
exhibit. But it is easy to torpedo this plausible-sounding sequence. The fact
that many museums have no budget for the acquisition of further museum
objects is regularly heard. Little notice is taken of museums with completed
collections that acquire nothing because they already own everything that
exists, such as the royal treasury in a country whose monarchy has abdicated,
or a monographic museum for an artist who has never given away or sold a
painting. In many cases, completed collections are not collections at all, but
complex ensembles of objects; for example, houses or castles with a historical
inventory which fulfil their purpose with the existing stock and do not need
to buy anything in addition.
The greatest variety is to be found in the preservation of the collection. Some
museums have only a few items, which may not cause any conservation pro-
blems. Museums that collect cultural assets usually have very large collections,
some of which are stored problematically and some of which are unsupervised
from a conservation point of view, while the similarly extensive natural history
museums are more concerned about contamination from historical conser-
vation techniques. In the case of some state museums with collections of art
and cultural artefacts where the common practice is to use the collections to
furnish official residences and guesthouses, there is also cause for concern.
This is because the climatic conditions in cabinet meetings, state receptions
or hotel rooms contravene the requirements of collection preservation.
The core functions of exhibiting and communicating pose few problems, as
there are no generally accepted meanings, even though museum experts discuss
what may distinguish exhibitions from “mere putting together”. Exhibition
critiques never refer to the fact that collections are shown at all, but rather
to whom, why and how they are exhibited. Thus, mass media perception loses
sight of the fact that the function of exhibiting was transitively related to the
acquired cultural assets or natural objects. If this reduction of museums to
exhibition houses dies down in the future, not only will the definitional obli-
gation to exhibit the acquired become relevant again, but also the question of
whether exclusive online presentations are sufficient to fulfil this core function.
Museum educators like to refer to Paul Watzlawick’s axiom that it is impossible
not to communicate. Conversely, this means that the core function of commu-
nication (interpretation) is always fulfilled – every website, every leaflet, every
object label, every guided tour, every curator’s talk, every children’s birthday
party in the museum is an interpretation of collection or exhibition content. It
is even easier to see the exhibition as a form of communication: that is factually
correct, but it renders the separate core function of communication obsolete.
The core functions as a memorable formula are the unifying element of the
museum experts – whatever disagreement there may be about these easy-to-re-
member ideals, they are and remain an international consensus: “we” are the
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ones who have and fulfil these tasks. At the same time, the imagined chain
of action of the core functions provides a didactic template to explain to any
audience – from kindergarten to the cultural committee of the state parliament
– what has to be done in museums, and why museum work is important and
responsible. “We” can recognize ourselves as a unit and at the same time explain
to outsiders what “we” are needed for. Whether each individual contributes to
all the steps in the process, whether the results of the work in each museum
meet the requirements, is irrelevant.
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the one hand, the attitude that only the totality of all museums must vouch for
compliance with the definitional components, and on the other hand, the use
of the term “research” as a code for the self-perception of academically quali-
fied museum experts that museums are irrefutably their own field of activity.
Conclusion
On closer examination, the ICOM museum definition appears Janus-faced:
it is a widely valued definition that not only indicates what a museum is (and
is not) but can also be reliably used to mark museum historical phenomena.
It appeals to overarching contexts such as heritage and outlines the museum
system even for those who are only superficially interested. On the other
hand, the ICOM museum definition contains a number of shortcomings in
that it prescribes characteristics that some museums do not have or that only
appear to be achievable collectively in all museums, while in parallel with the
further development of the definition text, the list of permitted exceptions to
the definition has become longer and longer. In my eyes, these shortcomings
are not to the detriment of the ICOM museum definition, but rather these
ambiguities reinforce the willingness of museum professionals to see their own
self-description in this text.
The process to revise the ICOM museum definition initiated in 2016 seamlessly
followed this practise of self-description of museum professionals: no one
discussed the exceptions to the definition that contradict the character of a
definition or some unfulfillable criteria. Who “we” are, what “our” self-imposed
obligation to the world is, how a great, world-changing task elevates “our”
individual significance, grew into the only category of statement, in which
the previous debate about the primacy of research or exhibition has been lost.
References
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Articles • The Definition Debate: From Paradigm Shift to Bend in the Road
The Definition
Debate: From
Paradigm Shift
to Bend in the
Road
M. Elizabeth Weiser
The Ohio State University - Columbus, Ohio,
USA
Abstract
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Résumé
*
Introduction
After a two-year process, the ICOM leadership thought it had a new definition
for the museum of the 21st century. But as voting representatives spoke up at
the Extraordinary General Assembly in Kyoto in 2019, one after another, it was
clear that there were questions about the jurisdiction of the ICOM procedure,
the overall quality of the definition, and, of course, the particular wording of
the text. Seventy percent of the delegates eventually voted to postpone the
final vote.
Was that action the rejection of a bold definition or of a muddled mission
statement, the stemming of a power grab or a backlash to progress, the shutting
out of Global South voices or their rise? Multiple perspectives mean multiple
interpretations were simultaneously in play. To try to gain a clearer view, I
will look at the debate over the museum definition through the lens of the
rhetorical theory of stasis, an age-old way to break apart a debate and see where
in the argument the sticking points lie that prevent consensus.
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”
In a paradigm shift, there is little rational possibility of compromise or consen-
sus from old to new paradigms – it is by definition a break with past perspec-
tives. The subsequent shakeup in the ICOM leadership – the resignation of its
Committee for Museum Definition, Prospects and Potentials (MDPP) chair
and original committee members, among others – points to the sense that
compromise on differences in perspective around this definition is in fact seen
by some as impossible to achieve. As I will demonstrate, stasis theory allows
for a perspective that instead sees arguments as complex and recursive, that
expects multiple perspectives to engage in ongoing stages of agreement and
disagreement, and, most importantly, that builds in pauses along the way to
determine exactly where the argument lies for all, not just the leadership, and
what creative turns might lead to unexpected resolutions. Thus, stasis can help
ICOM reach consensus on what may seem an impossible divide.
Why definitions?
Before analysing the debate, though, let me begin with the question why. If
definitional paradigms are so incompatible, why work for a consensus defi-
nition at all? The debate over a definition is a debate over more than mere
words, it is a debate over identity, and as any scholar of identity will say, who
we say we are determines what we say we can/should/must do. As rhetorician
Kenneth Burke put it:
”
That is, the debate over what the museum is is really a debate over what actions
the museum should or must be taking in its world today. As Smithsonian Insti-
tution Director Lonnie Bunch wrote soon after the vote, “We have to make sure
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that museums play a role in shaping a more inclusive future” (Chow, 2019). This
focus on the consequences of the proposed definition is what multiple observers
at the Extraordinary Assembly referred to as its “aspirational” quality. Yet as
Burke points out, this focus on what we should be calls into question what we
are – and so professional, even personal identity is called into question. Thus
it is not surprising that the debate over the museum definition has been so
heated. As the ICOM France national committee noted in March 2020:
”
Or as ICOM Europe chair Luís Filipe Matos Raposo put it in the heat of the
debate at the Extraordinary Assembly, “This is not a definition…It is noisy
words but not for most of us professional sense” (ICOM Extraordinary, 2019).
Which definitions?
In this article I will compare four definitions: the 1958 definition from when
ICOM was directed by museologist Georges Henri Rivière; the current defi-
nition from 2007 (updated slightly from the significant changes of the 1974
post-Roundtable of Santiago); a relevant piece of the 2015 UNESCO Recom-
mendation that started the new round of debates over the definition; and
the 2019 definition proposed to the Assembly in Kyoto. For ease of reference,
they are here:
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2015 Museums are vital public spaces that should address all of
society and can therefore play an important role in the deve-
lopment of social ties and cohesion, building citizenship,
and reflecting on collective identities. Museums should be
places that are open to all and committed to physical and
cultural access to all, including disadvantaged groups. They
can constitute spaces for reflection and debate on historical,
social, cultural and scientific issues. (UNESCO, 2015)
What is stasis?
“Stasis” is a Greek word meaning a “rest”, a standing still. It can be seen as the
resting point in an argument, the place where discourse must pause as two sides
say, “Now we’ve gotten to the heart of the disagreement!”. In this way, stasis for
the Greeks was the physical opposite of kinesis, motion (Dieter, 1960, p. 348).
It would be a mistake, however, to see stases as bottlenecks in the discourse.
Stases are turning points in an argument that force us to recalibrate our forward
rush into a more universally accepted argument. Stasis and kinesis are both
required for successful debate, much as reflection and action are required for
praxis. Without discerning where the argument is standing still, what is really
being debated, there can be no way to move forward together.
Stasis theory was first recorded by Hermagoras of Temnos in the 2nd century
BCE (Dieter, 1960, p. 345). His method established four possible stases in an
argument; i.e., four points that debaters have to agree on, each in turn, for a
dialogue to be successful. He named these four points the stases of:
• stochasmos, or fact (“can we agree on what happened?”)
• horos, or definition (“can we agree on what to call it?”)
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“stasis theory predicts that agreement about facts will not auto-
matically engender agreement about definitions. Every perspective
brings with it a clear and well-articulated definition…In turn, these
definitions imply corresponding policy decisions….Definitions play
a key role in debates and…public policy deliberations often reach a
stalemate because of these differing definitions” (2016, p. 94).
”
Indeed, as Fahnestock and Secor point out, we are often too quick to jump
to the final policy stage, arguing over what to do about a problem we do not
yet agree on how to name (1985, p. 222). Therefore, let us briefly examine in
turn the four stages of disagreement in this debate that must be worked on in
order to move toward policy, and then how to incorporate these into a more
productive approach.
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ICOM members also seem generally in accord with the need to update the
current definition through a standing committee, the MDPP, charged with
managing this task and proposing a new definition. Finally, ICOM members
are in accord that what happened in Kyoto is that the vote on the updated
definition, as proposed, was postponed, after a long debate, to gather further
information. As former ICOM President Suay Aksoy wrote in an optimistic
January 2020 letter, “conversations around ICOM’s alternative museum defi-
nition continue around the globe. We can only be happy for this enthusiasm
and commitment and benefit from their outcomes” (Aksoy, 2020).
”
Old guard and younger, traditionalists and new thinkers – this simple political
division breaks down when both the text itself and the context of the overall
document are examined.
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“Changing the museum definition to one that is adequate for the 21st
century is…a process of understanding the embeddedness of museums
in society, of contextualising, historicising, and de-naturalising the
current definition and of developing new ethical, epistemological and
political positions that reflect current challenges and obligations”
(Sandahl, 2019, p. 11).
”
Proponents at the Extraordinary Assembly also defined the situation as a
paradigmatic moment: “Despite reservations, the time is now to act,” said the
representative of ICOM Australia. “In the end we’re here for public service.
Join the moment for the present and future rather than staying rooted in the
past” (ICOM Extraordinary, 2019).
Opponents of this proposed definition, however, did not divide so clearly
along future/past political lines. To be sure, arguments were passionately
argued that the ICOM definition had historically been built upon a tradition
now being ignored. Outgoing ICOFOM chair François Mairesse has made
the point repeatedly, both in print and at the General Conference, that “the
definition of ICOM has gone through many stages and constitutes a kind of
legacy from previous generations of museologues and curators who contributed
to it” (2019, p. 13).1
His argument includes a genealogical reading of the current definition, tra-
cing the provenance of each of its phrases to past ICOM definitions and then
showing that in contrast “only five terms (out of nearly one hundred) [in the
proposed definition] come from previous definitions” (Mairesse, 2020, p. 37). But
Mairesse sees these textual issues as ultimately a consequence of a contextual
problem – the proposal is being defined as a definition when to him the text is
instead a mission statement:
1. Translation is mine.
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”
This definition – the text as a legal document – has been put forward repeatedly
as an explanation for why the words matter. A joint session between ICO-
FOM and museum educators, for instance, raised the concern that eliminating
“education” from the proposed definition might negatively affect public fun-
ding in some countries. These concerns were echoed at the Assembly by the
representative of ICOM Israel, who called the text “a mission statement, not
a definition…which has severe legal implications” for some members (ICOM
Extraordinary, 2019).
Equally strong arguments about defining the text as a (de)colonial document
were made by both proponents and opponents from the decolonizing move-
ment of the Global South. “If the present definition of the museum allows
for such biased judgments, including the continuation of the historical biases
and injustices,” writes Kenyan MDPP member George Okello Abungu, “then
something is not right and needs to be addressed” (2019, p. 68). The proposed
text, he argues, is a step in that decolonizing process. But Brazilian ICOFOM
chair Bruno Brulon Soares countered in the Assembly that the proposal was
still not taking into account Global South voices because “it has great impli-
cations for poorer countries that don’t have the luxury to be as progressive
as proposed here” (ICOM Extraordinary, 2019), and therefore it could not be
defined as a decolonizing document.
These contextual sticking points in the stasis of definition were not about
naming particular elements of the text but rather about how to name the
document itself – as definition or mission statement, aspirational or legal,
anti-colonial or colonial. Some of these issues bleed over into the next stases,
issues of quality and jurisdiction that were debated in the guise of questions
of definition, as we shall see.
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The importance of the current 2007 definition is evident in the 23-nation survey
conducted by museologist Michèle Rivet in 2019 to determine the role of the
current definition in national legislation. Her research found that in countries
as wide-ranging as China, Brazil, Sweden, South Africa, and Canada, the current
ICOM definition is echoed – sometimes verbatim, sometimes more generally –
in national law, national regulations, or professional accreditation and standing.
“Soft laws, rules laid down by ICOM, freely accepted by its members, thus
have a binding force for each of them,” she writes,2 particularly – as a number
of Rivet’s respondents mentioned – as museums struggle against increasing
political and economic pressures (2019, p. 77). The definition provides both
guidelines for policies and a bulwark against threats – thus any changes are
seen as having a serious impact on many nations’ museums.
It is the stasis of quality that also explains the repeatedly raised concerns about
the wordiness, clumsiness, and translatability of the proposed definition. This is
not a concern with the aesthetic beauty of the definition but with its utility: if
it is a statement important enough to be incorporated as “soft law” on a global
scale, then the wording needs to be clear in all languages – and the concern is
that it is not. For instance, Marion Bertin reports that polyphonic was singled
out as problematic by ICOFOM respondents (2020, p. 143), and Burçak Madran
of ICMAH noted in a panel that critical dialogue has only negative connotations
in Turkish. Bertin adds, “Underlying translation problems were also pointed
out, particularly for writing legislation” (2020, p. 143).
Proponents of the new definition, meanwhile, agree about the importance of
this “backbone of ICOM”, and this for them heightens the urgency of adopting
the proposed definition. “The world watches if we stay in the past,” warned
ICOM Australia at the Extraordinary Assembly, and ICOM US asserted, “Our
younger colleagues say to us, ‘Is this all ICOM offers us, a patriarchy afraid
of losing its grip?’ The time is now – we must lead the conversation for the
future.” President Aksoy also warned during the Assembly that “we must
consider the political ramifications” of postponement (ICOM Extraordinary,
2019). This particular question of quality, however, was not agreed to by the
70% of delegates who voted to postpone.
2. Translation is mine.
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key sticking point. The committee gathered suggestions from “broad dialogue”
and “expert fora,” but then in January 2019 invited “members, committees
and other interested parties to take part in creating a new, more current
definition” (“Museum Definition”, 2019). Some of the 269 separate proposed
definitions it received were the result of dedicated collaborative sessions, while
others were individual submissions by anyone perusing the website – but all
were published equally in a long anonymous list (“Creating the new”, 2020).
And then the MDPP wrote its own definition to present to the Executive
Board. Mairesse cites an analysis by Emilie Girard of the proposed statement
which found that its wording includes many terms mentioned in only very
few of the 269 proposed definitions received. For instance, polyphonic, pasts,
conflicts, and planetary well-being were mentioned in 0.4% of the submissions;
specimens, equal rights, human dignity, and social justice in less than 2% (Mairesse,
2020, p. 38). “This is a break,” noted the representative of ICOM Argentina at
the Assembly, asserting jurisdiction, “and it’s necessary to postpone the vote
so that it represents faithfully the thinking of the museum world” (ICOM
Extraordinary, 2019).
Jurisdictional problems were also exacerbated by the short timeline. The
nearly 500 voting members of the Extraordinary General Assembly in Kyoto,
representing national, regional, and international committees, had approxi-
mately five weeks to consult their members after the proposed definition was
unveiled. “How can I vote without time to discuss the opinions we haven’t heard
from?” asked Brulon Soares from the Assembly floor. “Forcing the vote makes
a nuanced vote impossible,” agreed the representative from ICOM Belgium
(ICOM Extraordinary, 2019).
The process itself, then, engaged the stasis of jurisdiction regarding who was
making the decisions on what everyone agreed was an important issue. The
Executive Board appeared to come to consensus on this point as well, evi-
denced by the announcement in January 2020 by President Aksoy that a new
MDPP (the MDPP2) had been appointed, enlarged with representatives from
national and international committees, “thus ensuring a participatory and
bottom-up model for the decision on the new museum definition. Allow me
to reiterate that we anticipate our National Committees and International
Committees to open up these conversations and discussion to the whole of
their members and not limit themselves to their boards.” The responsibility for
broad-based input, in other words, was back on the committees throughout
2020. Raoul-Duval of ICOM France, for one, saw this in March as a positive
resolution of the stasis: “A few days ago, the MDPP2 embarked on a new dia-
logue. It is our turn, elected representatives of the members, to nourish this
dialogue” (2020, p. 28). However, the abrupt resignation in mid-June of Jette
Sandahl, along with other original members of the MDPP, would indicate
that the stasis of jurisdiction – who has the right to make decisions about the
definition – remains unresolved for at least some of the participants.
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As Fahnestock and Secor predicted, it is the implied change not just in what
is but what should be – the change in policy – that leads to the stasis impasses
of jurisdiction. Mairesse notes that the definition “does not take into account
the extraordinary variety of museums. It would be disastrous to impose only
one type of museum” (Noce, “What exactly,” 2019). This “one type” would not
be a problem if the proposed definition were defining what is already univer-
sally in existence – if most museum professionals saw this as what they are or
could (almost) imagine being. It becomes more of an issue when, like 57% of
the members of ICOFOM who responded to its survey, museum professionals
feel that the text represents not who they are, but instead what (someone else
thinks) they should be (Bertin, 2020, p. 142). And it becomes a debate when a
sizable minority – 30% of the Kyoto Assembly, 39% of the ICOFOM respon-
dents – feel that it does in fact represent who they are. Such strongly differing
visions of what is lead inevitably to strong disagreements over what should be,
disagreements which then circle back around to fuel more debates over what is.
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motion into two movements, and separates the two from one ano-
ther; it is both an end and a beginning of motion, both a stop and
a start, the turning, or the transitional standing at the moment of
reversal of movement” (1950, p. 349).
”
It is ever in the nature of a policy-changing movement to march continually
forward, to say we should and we must and let us – and therefore its leaders can
outpace the larger group, sure that what is for them is the same for all. Stasis
points, however frustrating they feel in the moment, encourage a rest, a stopping
point to see where precisely the disagreements between diverse perspectives
lie and work to resolve them before moving on. These resolutions then build a
history of a growing number of consensus points that help to move the debate
further. They may well mean being creative enough to turn in unanticipated
directions, to accept – as even the proposed definition puts it – the need to
“work in active partnership with and for diverse communities”.
Since Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions, we have understood
differences in values perspectives to be incompatible, incommensurable, the
result of paradigm shifts from the old to the new. Consensus between old and
new perspectives becomes rationally impossible across the break of a para-
digm shift. As rhetorician Nola Heidlebaugh puts it, “Incommensurability lent
rationality to the assumption that moral debates are essentially intractable”
(2001, p. 144). But stasis, she suggests, is a way out of this bind. Examining a
debate through the lens of stasis shows us that
”
For Heidlebaugh, “The point of conflict may be seen either as a strategic choice
of battleground or as a common place where wildly divergent groups can meet,
communicate, and make decisions” (Smith, 2003, p. 521). Stasis, that is, becomes
the moment when the argument is stopped from forging ahead and comes
up against alternative perspectives that force a pause, a movement at right
angles, a reversal – all in the inventive situation of people personally invested
in the debate. It is this that occurred at the General Assembly in Kyoto and
continues in the new, more global discussions now ongoing.
So what is the contribution of stasis to the museum debate? Perhaps most
importantly, it champions complexity and the need for inventiveness in the
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”
Convincing 40,000 members in 123 nations of a definition, something so fun-
damental to identity, so entwined with law and custom, should be a complex
and recursive process. Stasis suggests ways to move beyond impasse, seeing
each disagreement as a bend in the road, a place to reflect together and find
new commonalities, on a continuous journey toward the mutually unknown.
References
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263
ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
ICOFOM SURVEY ON
THE NEW MUSEUM
DEFINITION
ENQUÊTE ICOFOM
SUR LA NOUVELLE
DÉFINITION DU
MUSÉE
ENCUESTA DEL
ICOFOM SOBRE LA
NUEVA DEFINICIÓN
DE MUSEO
by Olivia Guiragossian and Marion Bertin
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ICOFOM
Survey on the
New Museum
Definition
Written by Olivia Guiragossian and Marion
Bertin
Edited by Lynn Maranda
For over forty years, ICOM’s International Committee for Museology (ICO-
FOM) has been charged with fostering theoretical debates and the circulation
of knowledge relating to museum theory and practice. We have been actively
engaged in addressing ICOM’s goal to establish basic concepts and defini-
tions for the museum field. ICOFOM, as ICOM’s group dedicated to the
discipline of museology which, by its very nature, focuses on definitions as a
starting point, was very active between 2017 and 2019 in organizing a series of
conferences on the topic of the definition of the museum in the 21st Century,
and producing a number of synopses and publications to build on its existing
scholarship in regard to this topic which are now hosted on its website. Most
recently, we have been involved in the project of defining the museum in the
21st century that was initiated by ICOM in 2016 after the adoption of the
2015 Recommendation Concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and
Collections, Their Diversity and Their Role in Society by UNESCO, and developed
since 2017 by the Standing Committee on the Museum Definition, Prospects
and Potentials (MDPP).
Understanding that the ICOM museum definition is the most structural and
operational tool for the organization to express its central values and mission to
the museum world, the ICOFOM Chair and Board members were interested in
consulting the ICOM community by using a dialogical methodology to collect
all the various viewpoints on the current proposed definition. Therefore, by
means of a survey, ICOFOM invited first its members to express their views
on the new proposed museum definition, and then the National and the other
International Committees. Our goal as a committee was to collect a wide
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
also invited to choose which words in the proposal they would select, change
or delete in case it would be revised.
Answers
We received 194 answers from our members and analyzed 186 responses, with
those excluded being blank, very incomplete and/or anonymized – in that
the basic information required at the beginning of the survey was missing.
The number of respondents, representing about 15% of our members, and the
diversity of the answers received show differences in the varying degrees of
involvement in the debates raised by this definition process.
These answers include those received from non-ICOFOM members, but who are
members of other International or National Committees, as will be explained
later. Indeed, since we received only 30 individual answers from members of
other committees, these could not fully reflect either the ICOM community
or the committee in question and were consistent with what we expected
from individual member responses: they were considered as such in our study.
Profile of respondents
Countries and geographical zone
The 186 answers taken into account represent 49 countries. They come mainly
from European countries, Latin and North America, with a large participation
from Italy (14%), Belgium (9.7 %), France (8.6%), Brazil (8.1%) and Canada (6.5%).
By using the geographic divisions adopted by UNESCO, we can see that there
is no participation from Arabian countries, and that from Africa is quite low
(1.6 %). More than 70% of the answers come from Europe and North Ame-
rica, which is fairly consistent with the distribution of museums around the
world (40% of the museum network is located in Europe, and 37.8% in North
America) but cannot be representative of the origin of all ICOM members
(85% of ICOM members are from Europe, only 6.5% are from North American
countries). The place of the Latin American countries is also significant, since
17.7% of the responses come from this region: there is a clear over-representation
not only in relation to the origin of ICOM members (4%) but also in relation
to the distribution of museums in the world (8.3% of museums are located in
Latin America).
While there is a real diversity in the origin of the responses, the collection
method adopted here is not perfectly representative of the origin of ICOM
members or of museum development on a global scale.
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
Professional situation
The professional grid used for this question was a combination of the ICTOP
(International Committee for the Training of Personnel) frame of reference
for museum jobs and ICOM’s membership criteria.
The question of the professional situation is quite interesting because it can
help us to understand the diversity of the reactions generated by the debates
around the museum definition.
• 33.6 % or 1/3 of respondents work within a museum or a museum-like
institution.
• 29.6% of the respondents come from the academic field.
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
We also can define the field of activity of the respondents. Within the “Museum
workers (and affiliates)” category (the most represented), the proportion of
“Collections and Research” workers (26.3 %) is the most represented, while
professions such as Directors and Administrators, managers and logistics repre-
sent respectively only 12.9% and 12.4% of the responses. Quite surprisingly, jobs
linked to visitors (educators, etc.) are poorly represented. The second main
group is comprised of Professors and Researchers (20.4%) within the academic
field. As the answers expected in this questionnaire depend in particular on
the professional environment of each individual member, we can assume that
the reactions will be particularly diversified.
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
Nearly 2/3 of the respondents (62.3%) consider that the current museum defi-
nition is included in their national or local legislation, while 31.9 % estimate
that the definition does not have any legislative influence.
These data do not reflect completely the reality of the legislation, and we
can find contradictory answers within the same group of countries (with the
exception of Belgium, which does not have a unique legislation and political
situation between the Flemish and the French communities) or uncertainties,
particularly in the federal states (Germany or the United States, for example).
Current national laws should be analysed to get more precise data as was partly
done by Michèle Rivet in 20171. It is also interesting to note that all museum
workers and academics do not have either the same approach to or the same
knowledge of their own museum related legislations.
The majority of the respondents (64.8%) consider that some terms in the 2007
definition are used within the public policy of their country, while 21.5% do
not consider that the definition has an impact on the wording of their public
policy. The following question (“if yes, precise”) was meant to give us an idea
of the words and concepts most used with the public policies of the respon-
dents’ countries. Nevertheless, the question was not understood by all: the
number of interpretable answers is quite low (50 answers out of 186; 26% of
the questionnaires). At this level of analysis, we can just bring out trends and
hypothesis, that may need further analysis to be complete.
It appears that from a global point of view, the 2007 definition in its entirety
(either as the definition itself or as mentioning all the aspects and criteria of
the definition) is the most used in the public policies of the countries where
such legislation takes the ICOM definition into account (21 questionnaires
mentioned it).
1. Rivet, M. (2017). La définition du musée : Que nous disent les droits nationaux ? In Mairesse, F.
(2017) (dir.). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle. Paris: ICOFOM. pp. 53-79.
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
On a second level, the core functions of the museum (one or more) deriving
from the 2007 definition are used (mentioned in 25 questionnaires).
On a third level, the wording highlighted by the respondents’ concerns are in
regard to: non-profit (18 questionnaires); institution (9 questionnaires); social
role (8 questionnaires); missions (8), public (6), permanence (4), intangible (4).
The “new” definition (proposed in 2019)
The reactions pertaining to the definition proposed by ICOM in July 2019 are
varied: we could find among the respondents both clear opinions and nuanced
reviews. Our aim is not to judge if these answers are just positive or negative,
but to understand what aspects of the new definition are highlighted and
make for debate2.
As this stage, we can focus on some points:
• 56 respondents (30.1% of the answers) mentioned a problem with length,
imprecision, clarity, and text structure in the formulation of the new
definition proposed by ICOM.
• The second reaction is on the nature of the proposition itself: 38 res-
pondents (20.43%) do not consider it to be a definition, but a mission
statement, a vision or a declaration of principles.
Regarding the vocabulary used, 30 respondents mentioned the lack or the
inaccuracy of some terms and concepts, especially the word “education” and
the main functions of the museum.
Analysis of the terms of the new definition
What can be examined in this graph is that the words included in the 2007
definition received a larger consensus, especially those relating to the museum’s
missions (“to collect”, “to preserve”, “to research”, “to interpret”, “to exhibit”),
with more or less 80 % of the respondents answering “to keep”. Amongst the
other words already present in the current definition and linked to the des-
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ICOFOM Survey on the New Museum Definition
cription of what is a museum, “heritage” and “not for profit” made consensus
(79 % answered “to keep”), as well as “safeguard” (72.6 % answered “to keep”).
The words at the end of the 2019 proposal of the definition, which look more
like objectives and goals to be reached, raised more debate. As seen on the same
graph, depending on each of those words, between 19.4 % (for “human dignity”)
and 25.3 % (for “global equality”) of the respondents answered “to change”, which
indicates an agreement on the ideas they represent, but not on the words or
expressions that are used. This is also the case for “specimens” (24.2 % answered
“to change”), “the conflicts and the challenges of the present” (23.7 % answered
“to change”). On the contrary, “polyphonic” and “planetary well-being” are the
two most criticized terms: 42.5 % of the respondents answered “to delete” for
“polyphonic” and 36 % answered “to delete” for “planetary well-being”.
Based on the interpretation of the answers and on open-answered questions,
64.5 % of the respondents consider that the new definition – if adopted – can
have an impact in the context where they live and work, while 12.4% affirm that
there would not be any impact or a relatively weak one. 36.6 % of the answers
mentioned only negative impacts while 16.1 % consider only positive impacts.
Answers can also be nuanced: 5.4% mentioned both aspects).
Here again, the answers can be deepened.
• 14.5 % of the answers mention a possible impact within the legislative
and political fields, thus having an impact on some on the subsidies
for the museums.
• 20 answers (10.8 % of the total respondents) take into account the nor-
mative aspect of the definition and the possible modification of the
museum field (exclusion, inclusion, ICOM membership).
• 9.7 % of them raise the reinforcement of the social role of the museum.
• 9.7 % of respondent also consider that this definition will provoke
conflicts within the museum community, half of them having a negative
consequence on the credibility of ICOM (11 questionnaires).
Definition and identity
The question about the identity as a museum professional or a researcher and
its representation divided the community. Nearly 40% of respondents - a not
insignificant proportion - feel included in this proposed definition. However,
more than half of the respondents do not agree with the proposed definition:
if the values and democratic stakes of museums are not rejected, the idea of a
dilution of the specificity of museums and an inappropriate politicization of
the definition will be present.
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from other committees. Moreover, the small number of answers was not very
representative of any committee nor of all ICOM members. And could the-
refore be included in the analysis of the responses as “individual responses”,
as mentioned before.
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part in the process of rethinking the definition (ICOM Latvia, ICOM Nether-
lands). In this sense, some of the ideas shared in 2019 could be included in it, “as
fundamental values for the 21st century” (ICOM Latvia), or as “guidelines for
actions” (ICOM Netherlands).
To these first preliminary results can be added remarks and comments made
ln the course of the Committees’ Day organized in Paris on 10th March, during
which many other committees shared their own survey (ICOM Switzerland and
ICOM Slovakia for instance). Some committees (ICOM Greece, DEMHIST,
INTERCOM) started surveys late and these are still running as we write these
words.
Conclusion
Among the reasons invoked at the ICOM Extraordinary General Assembly, held
in Kyoto on September 7th 2019, to justify a request to postpone the vote on
the new definition of the museum proposed by ICOM, was first and foremost
the desire of the national committees, international committees and regional
alliances to be able to question their members in a broader temporality. The
questionnaire conducted by ICOFOM to meet this need resulted in a diverse
sample of responses, both in terms of geographical origin and the professional
situation of the respondents.
The analysis of these results enabled us to highlight marked trends both in the
influence of the current definition in the professional and cultural environment
of ICOFOM members and its integration into national and international
legislation. As for the proposed 2019 definition, the opinions shared within
the museum community highlight a number of points of tension regarding its
formulation, its vocabulary and the explicit and implicit effects of its possible
adoption. These are all points that still deserve to be debated today, and which
first of all raise the methodological shortcomings of the implementation of
this “new” definition.
However, the collection method applied here does not guarantee a perfect
representation of the international museum community. In order to be stren-
gthened, this analysis would need to be correlated with the results obtained
by the committees that have conducted surveys of their members using the
same analytical grid or similar questionnaires. This set of data, opening up a
dialogue, will certainly make it possible to calm down discussions, often heated,
and to calmly envisage the continuation of the work on a new definition of
the museum.
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Enquête
ICOFOM sur
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Définition du
Musée
Olivia Guiragossian et Marion Bertin
Enquête ICOFOM sur la Nouvelle Définition du Musée
Depuis plus de quarante ans, le Comité international pour la Muséologie de
l’ICOM (ICOFOM) est en charge de la diffusion des débats théoriques et de
la circulation des savoirs sur les pratiques et théories du musée. Nous nous
sommes engagés de manière active afin de mieux spécifier les concepts-clés
et les définitions du champ muséal. ICOFOM, en tant que groupe dédié à la
discipline de la muséologie qui, par nature se concentre sur les définitions
comme point de départ de ses réflexions, a été particulièrement actif entre
2017 et 2019 dans le processus de redéfinition, en organisant une série de confé-
rences sur le sujet de la définition du musée au 21e siècle et en produisant de
nombreux synopsis et publications, s’appuyant sur les recherches existantes à
ce sujet, qui sont maintenant en ligne sur son site web. Plus récemment, nous
avons participé au projet de définition du musée pour le XXIe siècle, initié par
l’ICOM en 2016 après l’adoption de la Recommandation concernant la protection
et la promotion des musées et des collections, leur diversité et leur rôle dans la société
de 2015 par l’UNESCO, puis développé depuis 2017 par le Comité permanent
pour la définition du musée, perspectives et potentiels (MDPP). La définition
du musée de l’ICOM est l’instrument le plus structurel et opérationnel de l’or-
ganisation, afin qu’elle puisse exprimer ses valeurs fondamentales et les missions
du monde muséal. De fait, nous, le Comité international pour la muséologie
et membres du bureau, souhaitions consulter la communauté ICOFOM, en
valorisant le dialogue pour collecter les points de vue sur l’actuelle proposition
de définition, afin qu’ils puissent être exprimés dans toute leur diversité.
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De fait, par le biais d’une enquête, ICOFOM a invité en premier lieu ses
membres à exprimer leur vision sur la proposition d’une nouvelle définition
du musée, suivi par les autres comités nationaux et internationaux de l’ICOM.
Notre objectif, en tant que comité, était de collecter un large spectre d’opi-
nions prenant en considération l’entière diversité culturelle de nos membres,
notamment en écoutant ceux qui n’ont pas eu l’opportunité de prendre plei-
nement part à ce débat.
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Situation professionnelle
Pour cette question, nous avons défini une grille professionnelle en prenant en
compte d’une part le cadre de référence de l’ICTOP (International Committee
for the Training of Personnel) pour les emplois dans les musées et, d’autre part,
les critères d’adhésion de l’ICOM.
La question de la situation professionnelle est assez intéressante car elle peut
nous aider à comprendre la diversité des réactions générées par les débats
autour de la définition du musée.
• 33,6 % soit 1/3 des personnes interrogées travaillent dans un musée ou
dans une institution similaire.
• 29,6 % des personnes interrogées sont issues du monde universitaire.
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1. Rivet, M. (2017). La définition du musée : Que nous disent les droits nationaux ? In Mairesse, F.
(2017) (dir.). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle. Paris: ICOFOM. pp. 53-79.
2. Pour cette question, 26 membres (14%) n’ont pas répondu.
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De ce graphique ressort le fait que les mots inclus dans la définition de 2007
ont reçu un plus large consensus, en particulier ceux relatifs aux missions du
musée (« collecter », « conserver », « rechercher », « interpréter », « exposer »),
avec plus ou moins 80 % des répondants souhaitant les conserver. Parmi les
autres mots déjà présents dans la définition actuelle, et liés à la description
de ce qu’est un musée, « patrimoine » et « sans but lucratif » font également
consensus (79 % ont répondu «à conserver»), ainsi que « sauvegarde » (72,6 %
ont répondu «à conserver»).
Les mots présents en fin de la proposition de définition de 2019, illustrant des
objectifs et des buts à atteindre, ont suscité plus de débats. Comme on peut
le voir sur ce même graphique, en fonction de chacun de ces mots, entre 19,4
% (pour « dignité humaine ») et 25,3 % (pour « égalité globale »), les répon-
dants ont souhaité « changer » les termes. Cela peut indiquer un accord sur
les idées que ces termes représentent, mais pas sur les mots ou expressions qui
sont utilisés. C’est également le cas pour les « spécimens » (24,2 % ont répondu
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« à changer ») ou encore pour « les conflits et les défis du présent » (23,7 %
ont répondu « à changer »). Au contraire, « polyphonique » et « bien-être
planétaire » sont les deux termes les plus critiqués : 42,5 % des répondants
ont demandé de supprimer le terme « polyphonique » et 36 % ont répondu «à
supprimer» pour « bien-être planétaire ».
En se fondant sur l’interprétation des réponses et des questions ouvertes, 64,5
% des répondants considèrent que la nouvelle définition - si elle est adoptée -
peut avoir un impact dans le contexte où ils vivent et travaillent, tandis que
12,4 % affirment qu’il n’y aurait aucun impact ou un impact relativement faible.
36,6 % des réponses ne mentionnent que des impacts négatifs, alors que 16,1 %
ne considèrent que des impacts positifs. Les réponses peuvent également être
nuancées : 5,4 % mentionnent les deux aspects.
Là encore, les réponses peuvent être approfondies :
• 14,5 % des réponses mentionnent un impact possible dans les domaines
législatif et politique, ce qui suppose notamment un impact sur les
subventions accordées aux musées.
• 20 réponses (10,8 % des réponses) prennent en compte l’aspect normatif
de la définition et la modification éventuelle du domaine des musées
(exclusion, inclusion, adhésion à l’ICOM).
• 9,7 % des réponses évoquent le renforcement du rôle social du musée.
• 9,7 % des répondants considèrent également que cette définition provo-
quera des conflits au sein de la communauté muséale, la moitié d’entre
soulignant les conséquence négatives qui pèseraient sur la crédibilité
de l’ICOM (11 questionnaires).
Définition et identité
La question sur la représentation de l’identité en tant que professionnel de
musée ou chercheur a également divisé la communauté. Près de 40% des répon-
dants – part non négligeable – se sentent intégrés dans cette proposition de
définition. Cependant, plus de la moitié des répondants ne se retrouvent pas
dans la formulation de la proposition de définition : si les valeurs et l’enjeu
démocratique des musées ne sont pas rejetés, on retrouve l’idée prégnante
d’une dilution de la spécificité des musées et une politisation inadaptée de
cette définition.
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Lettres et déclarations
Nous avons également reçu des réponses plus détaillées, sous forme de décla-
rations ou de lettres partageant des réflexions/sentiments sur la proposition
de 2019 et/ou sur ce qui pourrait être une définition du musée, et parfois de
nouvelles propositions (de NATHIST par exemple). Comme elles différaient
des autres réponses, elles n’ont pas été analysées selon la même méthodologie.
Cette analyse nous a posé problème, de manière similaire à celle des réponses
ouvertes du questionnaire précédent. En effet, ces lettres ou commentaires
exprimant des opinions personnelles, il était difficile de les intégrer dans une
analyse plus large.
Sept réponses nous ont été adressées par des membres individuels et reflétaient
des points de vue et des commentaires personnels, fondés sur une pratique
professionnelle. Ces lettres contenaient des commentaires sur les questions
de traduction et les différentes langues utilisées par les membres de l’ICOM,
ainsi que sur la nécessité que la définition soit efficace et reflète les statuts
de l’ICOM. L’usage d’un langage politique, fondé sur des valeurs, utilisé dans
la proposition a également été souligné. L’une de ces réponses partageait les
commentaires de l’Association australienne des musées et galeries (AMaGA) sur
ce que devrait être une définition en mettant l’accent sur l’aspect idéologique
de la proposition de l’ICOM, les problèmes de la langue, en ce qu’elle devrait
être en anglais simple, et sur la nécessité d’inclure tous les types et toutes les
tailles de musées à l’échelle mondiale. Certaines réponses ont souligné des
mots manquants dans la définition proposée, tels que «patrimoine matériel
et immatériel» (remplacé par «mémoires», qui ne signifie pas la même chose)
et «éducation» ou «connaissance». Enfin, deux réponses soulignent ce que
doit être un musée et surtout le lien entre le présent, le futur et les différents
passés comme le souligne la définition proposée en 2019.
Les lettres et déclarations que nous avons utilisées pour l’analyse nous ont été
adressées par ICOM Allemagne, d’ICOM Lettonie, d’ICOM Luxembourg,
d’ICOM Pays-Bas, de NATHIST, ainsi que du Musée d’Histoire de Barcelone.
Des lettres semblables ont été envoyées par des comités à l’issue de discussions
au sein de leurs conseils d’administration et ont abouti à une position officielle
(ICOM Allemagne, ICOM Lettonie, ICOM Luxembourg, ICOM Pays-Bas,
par exemple). Dans ces réponses, ce qui a été soulevé et critiqué est la forme
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Conclusion
Parmi les raisons invoquées lors de l’Assemblée Générale Extraordinaire de
l’ICOM, ayant eu lieu à Kyoto le 7 septembre 2019, pour justifier une demande
de report du vote de la nouvelle définition du musée proposée par l’ICOM, se
trouvait en premier lieu la volonté des comités nationaux, des comités inter-
nationaux et des alliances régionales de pouvoir interroger leurs membres dans
une temporalité plus large. Le questionnaire mené par ICOFOM pour répondre
à ce besoin a permis d’obtenir un échantillonnage de réponses diversifiées,
tant par la provenance géographique que par la situation professionnelle des
répondants.
L’analyse de ces résultats nous a permis de mettre en avant des tendances
marquées à la fois sur l’influence de la définition actuelle dans l’environne-
ment professionnel et culturel des membres d’ICOFOM et sur son intégration
dans les législations nationales et internationales. Quant à la proposition de
définition de 2019, les opinions partagées au sein de la communauté muséale
mettent en avant un ensemble de points de tensions sur sa formulation, son
vocabulaire et sur les effets explicites et implicites de sa possible adoption.
Autant de points qui méritent encore aujourd’hui d’être débattus, et qui sou-
lèvent en premier lieu les défaillances méthodologiques de la mise en place de
cette « nouvelle » définition.
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Encuesta del ICOFOM sobre la Nueva Definición de Museo
Encuesta
del ICOFOM
sobre la Nueva
Definición de
Museo
Olivia Guiragossian y Marion Bertin
Traducido por Melissa Aguilar Rojas
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de una metodología dialógica para recolectar los varios puntos de vista sobre la
definición propuesta. Por lo tanto, a través de una encuesta, ICOFOM invitó
primero a sus miembros a expresar sus puntos de vista sobre la nueva defini-
ción propuesta de museo, y posteriormente a los demás comités nacionales e
internacionales. Nuestra meta como comité fue recolectar una amplia variedad
de opiniones representando la diversidad cultural de nuestros miembros y de
la comunidad museal, incluyendo a quienes no habían tenido la oportunidad
de participar enteramente en este debate.
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Situación profesional
La cuadrícula profesional usada para esta pregunta fue una combinación del
marco de referencia para trabajos en museos del ICTOP (Comité Internacional
para el Entrenamiento del Personal) y los criterios de la membresía del ICOM.
La pregunta sobre la situación profesional es muy interesante ya que puede
ayudar a entender la diversidad de reacciones generadas por los debates alre-
dedor de la definición de museo.
• 33.6 % o 1/3 de los encuestados trabajan en un museo o en una institu-
ción similar.
• 29.6% de los encuestados vienen del campo académico.
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Definición y legislación
1. Rivet, M. (2017). La définition du musée : Que nous disent les droits nationaux ? In Mairesse, F.
(2017) (dir.). Définir le musée du XXIe siècle. Paris: ICOFOM. pp. 53-79.
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En tercer nivel, las palabras destacadas por las preocupaciones de los encues-
tados son acerca de: sin fines de lucro (18 encuestas), institución (9 encuestas);
rol social (8 encuestas); misiones (8); público (6); permanencia (4); intangible (4).
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Cartas y declaraciones
Además, recibimos respuestas más detalladas, a manera de declaraciones o
cartas que compartían sentimientos sobre la propuesta del 2019 y-o que podrían
ser una definición del museo, y en algunos casos una nueva propuesta (de
NATHIST). Debido a que diferían de las demás respuestas no fueron analiza-
das usando la misma metodología. Encontramos un problema en este análisis
similar al de las preguntas de respuesta abierta en la encuesta previa. En vista
de que las cartas o comentarios expresaban opiniones personales, fue difícil
incorporarlas en un análisis más amplio.
Siete fueron escritas por individuos y reflejaban puntos de vista personales
y comentarios basados en la práctica profesional. Dichas cartas comentaban
sobre los problemas de traducción y los diferentes idiomas utilizados por los
miembros de ICOM, al igual que la necesidad de que la definición fuera efec-
tiva y reflejara los Estatutos. Lo político y el lenguaje basado en valores usado
en la propuesta también fue subrayado. Una de estas respuestas compartía
comentarios de la Asociación de Museos Australianos y Galerías (AMaGA)
sobre cuál debería ser la definición, con un énfasis en el aspecto ideológico de
la proposición, los problemas en el lenguaje respecto a que debe ser más simple
y en claro inglés, y sobre la necesidad de incluir todos los tipos y tamaños de
museos alrededor del mundo. Algunas de las respuestas destacaron la falta de
algunas palabras en la definición, como «patrimonio tangible e intangible»
(reemplazados por «memorias», lo cual no significa lo mismo) y «educación»
o «conocimiento». Finalmente, dos respuestas enfatizaron qué se necesita para
ser un museo y especialmente el vínculo entre presente, futuro y los diferentes
pasados fue subrayado por la definición propuesta en 2019.
Las cartas y declaraciones que utilizamos para el análisis vinieron de ICOM
Alemania, ICOM Letonia, ICOM Luxemburgo, ICOM Países Bajos, NATHIST,
así como del Museo de Historia de Barcelona. Las cartas de este tipo enviadas
por comités, así como los resultados de discusiones con sus Juntas, resultaron
en una posición oficial (ICOM Alemania, ICOM Letonia, ICOM Luxemburgo,
ICOM Países Bajos, por ejemplo). Dentro de estas respuestas, lo que surgió
y se criticó es la forma de la definición propuesta en el 2019, que parece más
un manifiesto que una definición, mientras se pretende que sea clara, precisa
y estricta (ICOM Letonia, ICOM Luxemburgo, NATHIST). Los términos
fueron juzgados como muy subjetivos y ambiguos, tanto por encuestados indi-
viduales e institucionales (ICOM Letonia, ICOM Luxemburgo). Los problemas
de traducción y adaptabilidad en diferentes contextos fueron mencionados,
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Conclusión
Dentro de las razones invocadas en la Asamblea General Extraordinaria del
ICOM, que tuvo lugar en Kioto el 7 de septiembre de 2019, para justificar
postponer el voto sobre la nueva definición propuesta por ICOM, fue primero
y más importante el deseo de los comités nacionales, comités internacionales y
alianzas regionales poder cuestionar a sus miembros en un tiempo más amplio.
La encuesta conducida por ICOFOM para lograr este cometido resultó en una
muestra diversa de respuestas, tanto en términos de origen geográfico como
en situación profesional de los encuestados.
El análisis de estos resultados nos permitió destacar tendencias marcadas tanto
en la influencia de la actual definición en el ambiente profesional y cultural
de los miembros de ICOFOM y su integración en la legislación nacional e
internacional. En cuanto a la definición propuesta en 2019, las opiniones com-
partidas dentro de la comunidad de museos subrayan un número de puntos
de tensión relacionados a su formulación, su vocabulario, y los explícitos e
implícitos efectos de su posible adopción. Estos son puntos que aún deben
ser debatidos, y que primeramente traen a la luz los defectos metodológicos
en la implementación de esta “nueva” definición.
Sin embargo, el método de recolección aquí aplicado no garantiza una repre-
sentación perfecta de la comunidad museal internacional. Para fortalecerse,
este análisis debería estar correlacionado con los resultados obtenidos por
los comités que han realizado encuestas de sus miembros utilizando la misma
plantilla o encuestas similares. Este grupo de datos, abriendo un diálogo, cierta-
mente hará posible calmar discusiones, usualmente controversiales, y con calma,
direccionar la continuación del trabajo sobre una nueva definición de museo.
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